RALLY DAKAR 2022

Audi wants to take an electric buggy to compete in the rally

To compete in the next Dakar, which will hit the road in early January, once again in Saudi Arabia, Audi has developed an electric 4×4 buggy, with an engine on each axle, totaling 680 hp. As battery recharging is difficult, as there are not many charging stations in the middle of the desert and, if there were any, would require you to waste a lot of time in each of these operations, the German manufacturer used a mixed system to power the engines, with battery and REX (Range Extender) system.

Audi's buggy, called the RS Q e-tron, comes equipped with a battery with a capacity of 50 kWh, a relatively light accumulator – around 370 kg – which is good for competition, but too short for a marathon like this. nature, since it will hardly allow you to travel more than 50 to 100 km at a competition pace. The solution found by Audi engineers, to devour the remaining kilometers of each stage, was to mount a system to produce energy on board, in essence a 2.0 TFSI gasoline engine that drives a generator to recharge the battery.

Audi believes that its RS Q e-tron is competitive and everything indicates that it must be right, as it managed to entice two of the best specialists in this type of competition to drive its vehicles. We are referring to the Spaniard Carlos Sainz and the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel, who between them have 11 victories (3+8) in the marathon and who would never choose the competition model designed by Audi Sport if they thought it would not guarantee the possibility of reaching a place among the first.

But there are some differences between the official drivers – to those already mentioned, also joins the Swede Mattias Ekström, a name with more weight in other types of competition. Sainz has no problem saying that while they want to try to win, on the other hand, they know this is a very ambitious goal, with the Spanish driver ensuring he has enough experience to understand the car is fast. Peterhansel admits that he would be happy if, in this first year, he finished in the top five. There seems to be more realism on the French side and more optimism on the Spanish rider.

Autonews