AUTOMOTIVE
AUDI E-TRON PROTOTYPE
AUDI
STREAMLINE: AUDI E-TRON PROTOTYPE WITH
DECISIVE AERODYNAMICS
The scenario: endurance tests
in the wind tunnel
In front of the low-noise rotor measuring
around five meters (16.4 ft) in diameter, the
Audi e-tron prototype stares into the eye
of the hurricane. On the aeroacoustics test
rig in the Wind Tunnel Center in Ingolstadt,
the world’s quietest vehicle wind tunnel,
the Audi engineers optimize drag and noise
under extreme conditions. Both are crucial
for a car’s efficiency and comfort. With an
output of 2.6 megawatts, the fan produces
speeds of up to 300 km/h (186.4 mph). The
Audi e-tron prototype was put through over
1,000 hours of testing here. The result: a drag
coefficient of 0.28.
Customers benefit directly from this low
figure as drag contributes decisively to the
high range of more than 400 kilometers
(248.5 mi) in the WLTP cycle. A hundredth of
the drag coefficient figure repre sents a range
of around five kilometers (3.1 mi) driving
under everyday conditions.
38
PECM Issue 33