Ingolstadt – Audi commissioned a
new development and testing center for electric drive systems at
its Ingolstadt site this week – providing the company with an
ideal environment for development of hybrid and electric
automobiles. Around 840 employees will now work here to further
advance drive systems, batteries and power electronics – using
highly networked methods.
“With the new development and
testing center for electric drive systems, we’ve reached an
important milestone on the way to e-mobility,” said Michael
Dick, Audi Board Member for Technical Development.
“Consolidating the employees involved in the development process
in one area allows solutions to be found quickly and
efficiently.” The Audi Q5 Hybrid will be introduced to the
market as early as next year. By the end of 2012, Audi will have
a small volume of R8 e-tron electric sports cars ready to hit
the road.
Audi invested approximately € 65
million in the new building over the past two years. The
14,000-square-meter (150,690-square-feet) building houses
numerous state-of-the-art test rigs, which can be used to test
electric drive concepts. Over a total of seven stories,
engineers initially test the individual components, then
simulate the interaction of drive system, battery and power
electronics, and finally assemble the entire drivetrain for
testing.
In the next testing phase, tests
are run with the complete vehicle in the altitude simulation
chamber and the deep-freeze testing rig, subjecting the cars to
various climatic conditions at 4,200 meters (13,779.53 feet) in
altitude and temperatures of -40°C to +60°C (-40°F to +140°F).
“The networking isn’t just obvious
at the testing rigs; it is reflected in the entire architecture
of the building,” said Richard Schmidmeier, who as project
manager has overseen the expansion of the mechanical units
center since the start of construction in September 2008. The
workstations in the new offices, for instance, are ergonomic,
brightly lit and spacious. The planners have also provided
“think tanks” in which the employees can get together
spontaneously in order to discuss problems. The open character
and numerous meeting rooms convey a campus-like atmosphere.
Audi is making sustained
investments in the future in order to achieve its goal of
selling 1.5 million cars per year by 2015. Plans call for € 2.2
billion to be invested by 2012 in fixed assets at the Audi
Ingolstadt site alone. In addition, the company will hire around
500 new employees this year. Special emphasis is being placed on
the promising areas of electromobility and lightweight
construction.
