Audi's "hybrid" takes the checkered flag at Le Mans
Audi has laid claim to a historic win at the 2012 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Audi achieved the first victory of a hybrid vehicle at the storied race using its Audi R18 e-tron quattro. The German automaker brags that the four R18 cars from its Audi Sport Team Joest were the most reliable vehicles and after 24 hours sat in positions one, two, three, and five.
“By achieving this further success at the world’s most important endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological expertise in a particularly impressive way,” commented Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, who personally watched the race on location. “With the e-tron quattro in combination with ultra lightweight design, we put a completely new technology on the grid and immediately won with it – this cannot be taken for granted by any means, particularly here at Le Mans. This weekend again showed the type of things that can happen in this race and how important perfect preparation is.”
This historic win is the first for a hybrid vehicle at Le Mans, but this is the 11th Le Mans victory in total for Audi. The R18 e-tron is the first Audi racecar to use the electrified hybrid drive e-tron quattro drivetrain. The cars raced in the LMP1 sports car bracket. It took Audi 18 months from start to finish to design the race winning R18 hybrid vehicles.
The hybrid system used in the racecars uses a flywheel accumulator system to meet requirements at Le Mans. “A high power density is crucial during energy recuperation,” states Christopher Reinke, Technical Project Leader LMP. “The accumulator must be capable of absorbing a lot of energy within a few seconds during the braking stage.”
The hybrid system is integrated in the front axle of the vehicle and uses two drive shafts along with a Motor Generator Unit that has planetary gears and electronic flywheel accumulator sits beside the driver. The flywheel system captures energy during braking in specified braking zones. The carbon fiber flywheel is accelerated electrically during the braking process and after the corner; the driver accelerates again with this system delivering energy to the front wheels making the car a part-time all-wheel drive unit.
Race regulations allow for 500 kJ of energy to be transferred to the front wheels between two braking phases. The control the system occurs without driver intervention with the charging process control by the deceleration of the car and the booster stage defined when the vehicle is above the minimum speed of 120 km an hour.
Sources: Audi, Audi (2)
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