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In recent years, with the two new labels of electrification and intelligence, the new entrants into the car-making industry have quickly become the darlings of the capital market and the automobile market. Riding on the east wind of capital, they have instantly become hot stars in the new energy track, making products with 140 years of technological accumulation in the automotive industry seem less attractive than products with a few years of car-making experience.

How can traditional car companies calmly cope with new challenges in the new era? Audi, which has a century-long history of car manufacturing, has given the answer by using its technical background and brilliant achievements in the racetracks over the years to prove the reliability of its strength. Regardless of how the drive form changes, the brand continues to break through technological innovation and pursue the ultimate enterprising spirit. Through constant challenges and breakthroughs, Audi has created one technology and racing legend after another, and continues to promote the innovation and development of the automotive industry.

Conquer the Dakar Rally

Audi's electric technology speaks for itself

In the era of fuel, Audi's success came from its ultimate pursuit of technology. In 1982, Audi's quattro racing car competed in the WRC for the first time. With its innovative quattro four-wheel drive technology, it won seven championships in eleven races and successfully led the WRC rally into the four-wheel drive era. Since then, quattro has become well-known and respected by people. Its success has enabled Audi to establish a good brand image and reputation worldwide, and its market share has expanded rapidly. Today, the same story is being played out in the electric era.

The Dakar Rally, founded in 1978, is famous for its harsh terrain. It is known as the world's toughest rally due to its long race time and difficult stages. It is the ultimate test for both participating vehicles and drivers. However, it is difficult for people to associate new energy vehicles with such rallies due to problems such as range and recharging time. However, the automotive industry will eventually face the transformation to electrification, so there will always be car companies that want to take this step. Audi once again became the first to try it out, because the racetrack is not only the best testing ground for new technologies for Audi, but also the best proof of the foresight and reliability of its technological concepts.

In 2022, the Audi RS Q e-tron participated in the Dakar Rally. Audi became the first manufacturer team to participate in the Dakar Rally with an electric car, and created a new T1 Ultimate category. It won four stage championships and won a total of 14 podium results, ushering in a new electric era for off-road rallies.

Of course, Audi did not stop at the first attempt. In January 2024, Audi participated in the Dakar Rally for the third time and won the overall championship of the Dakar Rally with the Audi RS Q e-tron, a low-emission racing car equipped with an electric drive system, high-voltage battery and energy converter. It took Audi only three years from the first participation to the championship, setting a new milestone in the history of the Dakar Rally.

From the racetrack to civilian use

Q4 e-tron’s championship genes

Why is Audi so keen on conquering the racetrack? It is the persistence in continuous technological breakthroughs and the original intention of ultimately empowering mass-produced products.

As the leading electric champion in the Dakar Rally, the Audi RS Q e-tron has not only honed and sublimated its own extreme potential, but also demonstrated Audi's extraordinary achievements in the field of racing technology. Audi will apply these technologies that have been honed and tested on the track to mass-produced vehicles to continuously improve consumers' luxury travel experience.

Born on the MEB pure electric platform, the Audi Q4 e-tron is a new product in the electric era that combines Audi's experience and technology on the track. For example, in the face of the problem of motion sickness in electric cars, engineers put stability first and implemented a comprehensive optimization strategy for the kinetic energy recovery mechanism and chassis architecture, supplemented by the leading quattro electric four-wheel drive technology and intelligent progressive steering system, so that the Q4 e-tron overcomes the drag problem in pure electric driving, and the smooth and stable driving experience allows users to say goodbye to "electric sickness".

While incorporating new technologies, it ensures that user usage habits and experience continue to improve, and there is no sense of disconnection when switching from fuel to pure electricity. This is the outstanding performance of a new product. Audi is relying on the various advanced technologies on the Q4 e-tron to show the world Audi's strong R&D confidence.

High quality is not just about "big screen refrigerator and big sofa"

From the early WRC Rally to the Dakar Rally, from the mechanical quattro system to the quattro electric four-wheel drive system, Audi has always regarded its track genes as an important part of the brand. In the harsh test of super events, it has continuously honed its technology and verified its products. This has taken two completely different paths from the new forces in car manufacturing.

In the era of fuel vehicles, the three major parts of a car are the engine, gearbox and chassis; in the era of new energy, the three major parts should be batteries, motors and electronic controls. However, some new car-making forces have "rolled up" large screens, refrigerators and large sofas. Large screens, refrigerators and large sofas are becoming important selling points for more and more car models, and have also become an important reference for consumers to choose car models, and have become one of the test standards for whether a car is capable of family travel. At the same time, the speed of upgrading and replacing car models has reached an astonishing level.

When founding Audi, Mr. August Horch promised to "produce only powerful, high-quality luxury cars." Even in the new energy era, Audi should still insist on using electric four-wheel drive technology, chassis hardware and tuning, strict standards for technology and craftsmanship, and the unremitting pursuit of performance and safety as the selling points of its vehicles.

For example, the Audi Q4 e-tron's quattro electric four-wheel drive is exactly the same as the Audi RS Q e-tron racing car in terms of technical concept. It realizes completely independent control of the front and rear axle torque through dual motor drive. This technology not only makes it easier for the vehicle to get out of trouble, but also the highly networked and extremely fast response capability of the intelligent torque control system enables the vehicle to redistribute torque within 30 milliseconds, which is 5 times faster than the traditional mechanical four-wheel drive system. When encountering emergencies, the vehicle's control advantage is very obvious and safety is more guaranteed. However, dual motors are not only costly, but also have high energy consumption, which will lead to the problem of low battery life. In order to maintain performance while also having good battery life, without technical support, the battery life can only be greatly reduced.

Audi Q4 e-tron uses an efficient BMS thermal management system to maximize the use of electric energy in five aspects: improving endurance, all-round energy saving, strengthening energy recovery, accurately controlling power consumption, and improving energy utilization. These technical measures help improve the vehicle's endurance performance, making Audi Q4 e-tron more worthy of attention in the pure electric vehicle market.

Battery safety is the most concerned issue for electric vehicle users. Audi has a set of extremely strict standards for providing users with all-round high-intensity safety protection. Before mass production, Audi conducted 197 battery tests on the battery pack. In addition, there are many extreme tests, including EMAST vibration, immersion with temperature shock, thermal diffusion, external fire, low-temperature short circuit, pulley test, etc. It is worth mentioning that the battery cells are monitored in real time in modules. In case of leakage, the whole vehicle can be powered down at high voltage in 0.04 milliseconds at the fastest. The top protection of the battery pack with a mica flame retardant layer ensures that it will not melt for 15 minutes in the case of thermal runaway, which is 3 times the national standard. Exceeding the requirements of the national standard is not only a strict requirement of the brand itself, but also a sense of corporate responsibility for user safety.

Nowadays, electric vehicles are updated very quickly, much faster than the update speed in the era of fuel vehicles, but it is well known that a new car needs enough time and mileage to verify its performance and reliability before it can be launched on the market. This is also the reason why some brands slow down. For example, in Audi's complex CRT road test, the Q4 e-tron will drive in a variety of extreme climates and road conditions, from the Turpan Tropical Experimental Base Station with the highest temperature in China, to Heihe with a temperature of minus 35 degrees Celsius, for 40 weeks, with a mileage of more than 200,000 kilometers. Together with the CVP and CWP tests, the cumulative equivalent test mileage is nearly 3 million kilometers. After all these tests are completed, Audi will bring a reliable product to consumers. It is better to be slow and ensure quality. Only companies that adhere to long-termism can be so patient.

Conclusion

Vehicle engineering is complex and rigorous, and car manufacturing is a long-lasting marathon. There are no shortcuts. The speed of a moment does not mean anything, and victory or defeat is not determined at a moment. Many wonderful stories take time to unfold, and are never achieved overnight. What is needed is persistent determination and steady steps. The more complex the environment, the more the outside world is pursuing extreme efficiency and rapid attacks, the more we need to calm down and make good products.

Audi has invested a lot of energy and money into the track, which seems to have deviated from the direction of the current "roll" in the automobile market, but this is precisely the embodiment of its century-old wisdom of always insisting on steady progress. Under the brand concept of "breaking through technology and enlightening the future", maintaining its own rhythm, not being affected by the outside world, and being in awe, insisting on slow work and fine work, and being strict with oneself are responsible to users. It is precisely this insistence on shaping the concept of luxury with long-termism that can sail steadily in the turbulent market, cross the market cycle, become an industry benchmark again in the era of great transformation, and create a new luxurious future for pure electric travel. (Liu Aini)