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Audi and Hyundai team up to boost hydrogen fuel cell cars

Hyundai agreed a deal with Audi on Wednesday to collaborate on hydrogen car technology, hoping to boost an energy segment that has lagged behind battery electric vehicles. The South Korean firm wants to increase the sales and acceptance of hydrogen cars, which are propelled by electricity generated by fuel cells but have been held back by a lack of infrastructure and the push for battery electric vehicles by the likes of Tesla. The pair will be able to access each other's intellectual property and share components, including any new parts developed by Audi, which is responsible for hydrogen fuel cell technology in the Volkswagen Group, the world's biggest car seller. Hyundai hopes that the move will create greater demand for vehicles such as its ix35 model and bring down costs to make the technology profitable. "We want to provide to our component suppliers more chance and we want to have competition between component suppliers," Sae Hoon Kim, the head of Hyundai's R&D fuel cell group, told Reuters in an interview in London. "We also want to make them to have competition with other suppliers, and that competition will bring down the cost." Carmakers such as Toyota have touted the benefits of hydrogen vehicles, which take less time to refuel than the recharge times of battery electric cars, but are expensive and suffer from a lack of refuelling stations. Many carmakers are focusing on battery electric vehicles, which can take between half an hour and half a day to recharge, but are increasingly able to use a growing network of charging points. Auto firms are teaming up to share the cost of developing greener technologies to replace combustion engines as regulators around the world crack down on emissions. GM and Honda have a partnership to jointly develop electric vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells that are expected to go on sale in 2020, while BMW is working with Toyota. Kim said that a toughening of European Union carbon emission limits in 2025 would create a need for more hydrogen cars. Hyundai sold 200 such models last year and expects to sell thousands this year, but Kim said profitability was still far off. "100,000 or 300,000 vehicles per year per company, when that comes, I think we can make money," he said. Reporting by Costas PitasRelated Video: Image Credit: Getty Auto News Green Plants/Manufacturing Audi Hyundai Alternative Fuels Future Vehicles Hydrogen Cars

Audi Recalling Nearly 102,000 Cars To Fix Air Bags

Audi is recalling nearly 102,000 luxury cars in the U.S. because the front air bags may not inflate in a crash. The recall covers certain A4 and S4 cars from the 2013 through 2015 model years, plus the 2013 through 2015 Audi allroad. Audi says that it is part of a wider global recall that the company announced last week covering about 850,000 vehicles from the 2013 to 2015 model years. Dealers will update an improperly programmed air bag control module to fix the problem sometime this month. Audi said that in rare cases the air bags may not inflate in a secondary impact. That can increase the risk of injury. No crashes or injuries have been reported in the U.S. or Europe, an Audi spokesman said. But the company is checking a small number of cases in Europe to see if they are linked to air bag programming. The company said in documents posted by U.S. safety regulators that the problem was discovered in tests done in August. Related Gallery Our Favorite Hot And Sporty Cars For 2015 Recalls Audi airbag

Audi stretches the A8L even more for one special European buyer

An anonymous European buyer decided that the standard Audi A8L just wasn't long enough, so this wealthy person ordered a one-off A8L Extended with six doors. It's capable of seating six people in luxury. The massive sedan now measures 20.9 feet versus 17.3 feet for the standard, already large A8L. The wheelbase also grows to 13.8 feet from 10.2 feet for the regular version. You might expect the A8L Extended to have facing seats inside like a limousine, but all the passengers actually look forward. The decision probably doesn't aid in having a conversation during the drive, but it's what the buyer wanted. The third row has an entertainment display and refrigerated storage box. The second and third rows also have power adjustable seats in beige Valcona leather. It took a year for Audi's engineers to figure out how to build this beast while retaining the A8's rigidity. The builders eventually settled on adding extruded aluminum sections to the side sills and center tunnel to get the extra length. They also included extra cross braces in the roof, and a 7.9-foot glass panel to lets more light into the cabin. The powertrain consists of Audi's 3.0 TFSI with 306 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The A8L Extended retains the company's Quattro all-wheel drive system and can reportedly accelerate to 62 miles per hour in 7.1 seconds. That's not lightning quick but still plenty for a vehicle that weighs 5,331 pounds. The A8L Extended likely won't remain a one-off for long. According to Audi, the customer response has been quite positive, and the company has already received requests to build more. Representative unique specimen: Audi A8 L extended Premium manufacturer develops and builds 6.36-meter (20.9 ft) sedan to special customer order One-off specimen meets same standards as production model Comfortable and spacious seating for six Audi puts the customer first, however out of the ordinary their requirements may be. An example of this is the Audi A8*: at the request of a European customer the premium brand has built a first one-off version of the sedan in king-size format. Measuring 6.36 meters (20.9 ft) in length and with a wheelbase of 4.22 meters (13.8 ft), the A8 L extended* affords top-class comfort for passengers occupying all of its six seats. A concept that generates customer: Audi has further requests for the custom product already.