2012 Audi A7 Prestige Quattro Sedan on 2040-cars

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Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro packs plug-in hydrogen powertrain

If you think a plug-in diesel hybrid is an expensive proposition, just wait until you hear details about the just-revealed Audi A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro. The "H" in H-Tron, as you might guess, stands for hydrogen, so say hello to a new concept that combines a plug-in battery system with a hydrogen fuel cell. Yeah, exactly. Let's start with the numbers. On the plug-in side, the new H-Tron has an 8.8-kWh lithium-ion battery that can power the car for up to 31 miles on battery power. With electric motors on both axles – it's a Quattro, after all, but a through-the-road hybrid with electronic torque distribution management – the A7 H-Tron uses a hydrogen fuel cell and four (!) H2 tanks to offer about 62 miles per gallon equivalent. Audi says the overall fuel cell stack efficiency is "as high as 60 percent" while the electric motors operate at 95 percent efficiency. Efficiently turning all of that electricity into movement means the A7 Sportback H-Tron Quattro has a total power output of 398.3 pound-feet of torque. The 4,299-pound concept can allegedly go from 0-62 miles per hour in 7.9 seconds and has a top speed of 112 mph. The car's total range is 311 miles. The A7 H-Tron is not the first plug-in hydrogen vehicle concept. That title goes to the Ford HySeries Edge. Mazda also considered putting a hydrogen range extender in the Mazda5 plug-in van. The Audi A7 Sportback h-tron quattro It sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mi) in 7.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 180 km/h (111.8 mph). It covers over 500 kilometers (310.7 mi) on one tank of fuel – and its exhaust emits nothing more than a few drops of water: The A7 Sportback h-tron quattro, which Audi is unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2014, uses a powerful, sporty electric drive with a fuel cell as its energy source that operates in combination with a hybrid battery and an additional electric motor in the rear. The overall electrical system power of 170 kW is transferred to both the front and the rear wheels. This drive configuration makes the emission-free Audi A7 Sportback* a quattro through and through – a new departure in fuel cell cars. "The A7 Sportback h-tron quattro is a genuine Audi – at once sporty and efficient. Conceived as an e-quattro, its two electric motors drive all four wheels," explained Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development at Audi. "The h-tron concept car shows that we have mastered fuel cell technology.

Audi doesn't even need December to set new global sales record

In 2011, Audi broke its previous-year global sales total at the end of November. It did it again in 2012. It did the same in 2013, and it's done the same again this year. The brand sold roughly 1.575 million cars last year. As of November 30 this year - its 47th record-breaking month in a row in the US - it had found new owners for 1.591 million cars around the world. Where is the action happening? Everywhere, with double digit growth year-on-year in China (16.4 percent, led by the Q3), the US (15.4 percent, led by the Q5) and Mexico (10.6 percent), and triple-digit growth in Brazil (105.2 percent). Even Europe, still struggling to break free of its retail lassitude, returned a 4.3-percent gain, with the UK and Swedish markets up by more than 20 percent. In November alone, Audi's deliveries increased 10.8 percent compared to last year, and it broke the company record for monthly sales, getting 146,250 units out the door. You can find more numbers and details in the press release below. AUDI AG: new sales record after 11 months - Full year 2013 volume already exceeded in November - Sales chief Luca de Meo: "Strong year-end sprint for Audi" - New-generation Audi A6* launched in the first European markets Ingolstadt, 2014-12-09 - Audi continues to post double digit growth in November too: Deliveries climbed 10.8 percent to a new record breaking figure for a single month of around 146,250 cars. The company once again grew significantly in all regions around the globe. Demand for the four rings rose in the Asia Pacific region in particular with sales up 17.7 percent. Since January, the premium manufacturer has delivered around 1,591,100 cars (+10.1%) to customers, thus topping last year's sales total after just 11 months. In the whole of 2013, the Ingolstadt based company sold around 1.575 million units. "Our performance in November shows that we are keeping up the pace as we sprint towards the year-end," says Luca de Meo, Member of the Board of Management for Sales at AUDI AG. "Our large export markets in particular are driving the growth of the four rings at this time." In China Audi handed over 52,544 vehicles (+18.5%) to their new owners. The Audi Q3* provided a strong boost, with demand for the compact SUV growing by 49.8 percent. Since January, the Ingolstadt-based company has sold a total of 516,356 cars in the Middle Kingdom – and thus more than half a million units for the first time.

Audi and FAW to launch A6 E-Tron in China

Audi and its Chinese joint-venture partner FAW have announced that they'll be building a production version of the Audi A6 E-Tron Concept, shown at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show. Based on the China-only long-wheelbase A6, the plug-in-hybrid model is being targeted specifically at the People's Republic.
Audi is promising a 50-kilometer (31-mile) electric range for the fuel-sipping sedan, although there are precious few details beyond that. We do know, though, that this will be a Chinese-built vehicle, with assembly slated for the FAW-Volkswagen joint-venture factory in Changchun. We presume we'll find out more when the Beijing Motor Show kicks off a few weeks from today.
"We are the market leader in China's premium segment and will continue systematically with the application of efficiency technologies. Audi is thus supporting the Chinese government's targets for the reduction of fuel consumption," said Dr. Dietmar Voggenreiter, the president of Audi China.