Which race in the racing world is the hardest, most exciting, and the most test of whether a car is reliable? That's no doubt the famous Dakar Rally! This tournament has also been hailed as: the toughest devil race on Earth! The average finish rate is only 38%...
No, 2022 has just begun, and this "devil" is coming again! The 44th Dakar Rally 2022 was held in Saudi Arabia in early January. The spread of the new crown epidemic around the world can be broken for the majority of car fans... So this exciting opening year competition has attracted the attention of fans around the world, and each Dakar Rally has its own unique point of view, and this year's highlight is undoubtedly the Audi team! The same team, what is new to the four-ring team? Is it because it is a luxury brand fleet?
The team's luxury lineup is just one aspect, the focus is on Audi once again changing the rules of racing, sending electric drive cars and a bunch of traditional fuel cars PK, which was not available in the previous 43rd Dakar Rally! Is Audi 'crazy' in this operation? Sending electric drive cars to participate in such a difficult and long-distance race, do you know that in previous races, many traditional fuel cars can not finally reach the finish line, Audi this time is "unable to see the situation"?
In my opinion, it is not, Audi's operation is through the shouting "breakthrough technology, enlighten the future" this momentum, through the devil event to challenge the limit, once again prove that they are right to play fresh!
How exactly did Audi teams play fresh in the Dakar Rally?
Such a cruel event as the Dakar Rally, before this event, has always been the world of traditional fuel vehicles. Audi became the first automaker to use an electrically driven car to compete in the Dakar Rally, sending an innovative prototype car, the RS Q e-tron, with an electric powertrain with a high-voltage battery pack and a high-performance energy converter. The entry of this electrically powered race car changed the rules of the game for this grueling race! At the same time, it also surprised the opponent and shouted: Audi team does not talk about martial arts! In fact, playing fresh in racing, Audi is not the first time!
In which other events does Audi like to play without playing according to the traditional routine?
In fact, in the case of racing, Audi is really not the first time to break the rules of the game. In the earliest WRC era, Audi teams changed the rules of the world rally championship with their unique "gecko walk" quattro technology, and this legendary four-wheel drive technology has long been equipped with Audi's production models.
At the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi first won the petrol car with TDI technology. Endurance-tested TDI technology is also available in production cars, and Audi cars with high-efficiency TDI engines are also popular models in Europe.
Entering the electric age, Audi sent the hybrid racing Audi R18 E-Tron quattro to win its first victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and win three consecutive wins! It became the first team to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with an electric drivetrain.
The road to the championship under Audi's electrification has since stopped, and there have been 43 podiums in Formula E, including 12 championships. Belongs to the real prize received to the soft hand...
This year, Audi became the first automaker to compete in the Dakar Rally with electric power, leading the new energy revolution in off-road rally. And the technology that has been tested by the devil's race will eventually appear on the production car!
In this way, Audi's technical man is really "disobedient" and likes not to play cards according to traditional routines. Although every time he did not play his cards according to the routine, he began to be questioned, and finally proved himself with strength.
What skills does the Audi RS Q e-tron car have to come to Dakar?
If you want to play cards without following the routine, you must have strong strength, and if you want to say that this creates an Audi RS Q e-tron car, Audi pressure is not small! You know, an electric racing car has to face 8,000 kilometers of yellow sand, mud, grass, rocks and desert cruel track, the degree of hardship known as the "contemporary Silk Road".
An electrically driven racing car needs to travel more than 8,000 kilometers in the vast sand sea of Saudi Arabia, with a daily high-intensity course of up to 800 hundred kilometers, and what technology can be used to ensure that an electrically driven racing car can be completed, Audi's idea is as follows.
How to ensure the safety of the "Desert Flying Car"?
Race is race, not race with life, safety is always first! This time, the Audi RS Q e-tron will face a far more difficult road than imagined. If you take the civil tram to change the competition, it will definitely not be able to withstand the test of the "desert flying car", and it will definitely "drop the chain"...
So the question is, how to make the car hard and light, the three-electric system is safe enough? This is not difficult for Audi! Unlike civilian trams, the Protection and Load-Bearing Infrastructure of the Audi RS Q e-tron is a tubular body structure. Don't think that this tube body is simple and has no technical content, although it looks simple, but it also has to withstand huge pressure to ensure safety, then how can it be played without real technology?
Audi chose alloy structural steel from the aerospace industry to create the tubular body of the Audi RS Q e-tron, which is not ordinary and is the same material as the space station. The seemingly simple frame is actually a technology that Audi has acquired over the past few decades in the German Touring Car Masters (DTM), the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Rally! Audi's obsession with lightweight and high strength is ultimately reflected in the mass production car, all of Audi's civilian e-tron models, a large number of lightweight materials, each Audi car has a lightweight "soul". Therefore, creating a hard and light tubular body is not a problem at all for Audi, the old cannon in the arena!
With the lightweight tubular body, of course, the rest of the components have to be reduced in weight. According to the location of the parts and different uses, Audi has arranged some materials that we have not usually heard of, such as: carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), Kevlar and so on.
This carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) is not good, this is also an aviation grade material, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy in front of this material, are embarrassed to say that they are light. Using this material can reduce the total weight of the aircraft by 15%, arranged on a smaller car, and the effect is known to everyone!
Kevlar (Kevlar) this new material low density, high strength, good toughness, high temperature resistance, its strength is 5 times the same quality of steel, but the density is only one-fifth of the steel, tough and wear-resistant, rigid and flexible, "knife and gun do not enter", coupled with honeycomb structure, which is lighter and lighter. Of course, light does not mean not strong, light at the same time coupled with Audi's years of experience in safety on the field, to achieve the optimal design, to bring drivers a full range of safety protection, can let them have no worries about the peace of mind of the game. Just imagine, if I drive a car race that is both brisk and high in safety, my heart is also very beautiful ~ and, in the field of civilian cars, Audi cars are full of stars in the crash test around the world! So it's over!
The above lightweight materials are used in electric drive racing cars with large self-weight, which is an excellent way to "lose weight" that is both safe and effective.
The car seems light and hard enough, but don't forget that there is a power battery pack under the car. The stones in the long Gobi Desert are like "wind knives", which have not encountered opponents for thousands of years, such as the shell of the power battery is not hard, and it will be cut open in minutes...
In order to defeat the Great Gobi, Audi has developed a CFRP sandwich structure with a bottom thickness of 54 mm to protect the high-voltage battery. Much thicker than the general axe, this set of safety structure by aluminum alloy, special foam and other solid battery shell, such a thick bone, can fully cope with the vast majority of punctures, scratching, tearing and other situations, "wind knife" can not be cut at all, let it seconds to curl the blade, sweep the big Gobi! Of course, Audi also takes into account the extreme situation, if excessive damage, you can also achieve quick disassembly, quick change, no delay in the schedule!
The continuous high-load race is also a harsh test for the "nervous system" of the car, which we call the high-pressure system! Audi detects dangerous fault currents according to the ISO monitors used in the Le Mans prototype and formula E races. If the system cannot be held in the state of "full firepower", the system will automatically shut down when the threshold is exceeded. Assuming a fire, the electric insulated fire extinguishing agent system in the vehicle fire extinguishing system is definitely faster than the fire extinguishing team!
How strong the performance is, dare to come to the Dakar Rally to "smash the field"!
The first safety issue is solid, and it's time to fight for performance! The electric drive RS Q e-tron, front and rear axles are equipped with an electric motor module (MGU) derived from the Formula E racing Audi e-tron FE07, the combined maximum output power reached 288kW, close to 400 horsepower, this power is certainly not the peak, because the Dakar race stipulates that the maximum output power of the vehicle must not exceed 300kW, so it can only be "closed" points.
Know that there are no charging stations in the desert... In order to solve the problem of endurance, an efficient "car charging pile" is arranged, that is, a TFSI engine from the German Touring Car Masters (DTM) race car and an energy converter composed of a third MGU, so as to efficiently charge the high-voltage battery while competing in the fierce competition, and the two can fully meet the endurance of the high-power pure electric drive of the daily race.
With such a harsh environment for racing, the current civilian high-voltage battery pack is unable to meet the requirements of the Dakar Rally for pure electric off-road vehicles. The organizers have high requirements for battery capacity, performance, handling and safety mechanisms. This "age-old problem" in the racing industry has no previous experience, and of course, it has not stumped Audi, the "science and engineering man".
Soon, equipped with an energy recovery device, a circular ternary lithium battery cell with a maximum capacity of 52kWh, supporting 800V high-voltage electrical architecture, and a racing high-voltage battery pack that can reach up to 220kW charging power turned out to be born! What is the concept of charging power 220kW? But it is not 220V, don't make a mistake, 220kW is similar to the power of Tesla's latest 3-generation supercharge pile, which is known as the fastest charging in China. But don't forget, Audi is a "car charge".
There are also braking energy recovery systems, and Audi also insisted on using the same energy recovery systems from the Le Mans and Formula E championships in the Dakar Rally. The efficient recycling of this kinetic energy recovery system does not affect the braking performance and is achieved through the Intelligent Braking System (IBS).
Audi Run Dakar Rally also uses a traditional mechanical quattro four-wheel drive system?
Of course not! The quattro name used in the electric drive RS Q e-tron has an extra e in front of it, but don't underestimate the difference of this letter, it is not weaker than the traditional mechanical quattro. The torque of the front and rear axles of the e-quattro all-wheel drive system is independent, and if one of the axles is skidded, it is completely without affecting the power of the other axle. Compared with the traditional drive system, the electric motor has the characteristics of constant torque and zero delay, and the super torque can burst out in milliseconds, and with the limited-slip differential integrated with the single-speed reducer, the active control is carried out through the on-board driving strategy, and the torque distribution is more accurate.
The system reaction speed is faster than the blink of an eye, high-speed driving can do the power to continue to give directly, in the up and down the dunes, long distance sand, play is definitely better than the traditional four-wheel drive off-road vehicles. Surpassing the opponent, that is the "one foot oil" thing!
In addition, Audi has developed an energy management system to meet the extreme challenges of long distances: we know that the desert environment is comparable to a woman's face, the sun shines and the cold will appear, and this innovative pure electric system will "see the face" can not be affected by external factors such as air pressure, temperature and humidity, and will not occur "high blood pressure" at low speeds and high loads. While other team drivers struggle to resist the heat and cold caused by the "face change", RS Q e-tron players can comfortably play with air conditioning and heating. PS would be nice if you could have some more music, wouldn't it...
Will the innovative technology that has been tested by devil racing appear on the production cars of the future?
The Dakar Rally is only one of the toughest rally in the world in the eyes of fans, but in the eyes of the Four Rings brand, it is actually a perfect technical testing ground.
The ultimate safety design that currently appears on RS Q e-tron racing cars can cope with any harsh environment in reality, including: ultra-high safety packaging and high-voltage protection of high-voltage electrical systems, and ultra-high safety body structure design. In addition, the electric drive and the ultimate highly efficient and reliable electric drive system that ushered in a new era in Dakar, the newly designed high-voltage battery pack for extreme environments, the energy management system for long-distance extreme challenges, the strongest e-quattro four-wheel drive system in history, and so on.
The above standards of safety and reliability and the innovative drive system tested by devil racing are much higher than those of civilian vehicles, and at the same time highlight the technical reserves of the Audi brand in the field of electrification, and establish the leading edge of the Audi brand in electric technology. In the future, Audi will apply innovative technologies in motorsport to production cars.
And the very futuristic body design and painting, the picture of traveling in the desert Gobi has a feeling of a Mars rover, too sci-fi, you can also use the RS Q e-tron racing car as a concept car with forward-looking design. You can also get a glimpse of Audi's future design ideas.
Why is Audi "nothing to look for" keen to change the rules of motorsport?
"Breakthrough technology, enlighten the future" slogan that impressed us, Audi has been shouting for 50 years, and it is also doing this! It turns out that Audi likes to "find things" on a technical level on the basis of being very good!
Racing cars have a very high position in Audi's strategy, and for Audi, the competitive arena is also a technical testing field. Testing technology through events is Audi's innovative idea. Audi feels that electrification is the future, so it will not only use electricity to drive racing cars to run the Dakar Rally, but also will no longer send traditional fuel vehicles to participate in the future, leading the development of the industry one step ahead!
Conclusion:
Audi sent the RS Q e-tron to participate in the competition, showing the industry the determination and strength of the four-ring brand to fully electrify.
At a time when many car companies are still trying to enter the "fast lane" of electrification and comfort, Audi has preemptively entered the most difficult "devil track" on the earth. High temperature desert Gobi, mud, grass, rocks quenched out of the car, do you still worry about unreliability?
And the eyes from the devil's event to the domestic, FAW Audi comprehensively helped Audi's electrification strategy to land in China, the domestic "electrification Dakar race" has begun, and Audi's "electrified racing" in China has started!
In the 2022 year that has arrived, there are more e-tron "racing cars" on the road, continuing the next 50 years of "breakthrough technology, enlightenment of the future"!