Marking a return to international rally competition, Audi is entering the 2022 Dakar Rally with a new prototype. This prototype is powered by an electric drive train, with a range extender, and will be the “spearhead of the factory motor sport commitment in the future.”
We like the sound of all of that.
The prototype will use an electric drivetrain, but because desert, will be coupled with a “highly efficient TFSI engine.” This engine technically makes the vehicle a hybrid, but will likely function as a range extender like in the BMW i3.
“A multifaceted commitment to motor sport is and will remain an integral part of Audi’s strategy,” says Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Management and Board of Management Member for Technical Development and Product Lines at Audi AG. “We want to continue demonstrating the brand’s slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ in international top-level motor sport in the future and develop innovative technologies for our road cars. The toughest rally in the world is the perfect stage for this.”
Audi says this program will help develop the technology used in production electric vehicles from the brand.
Audi is already in electric motor sports, with Formula E involvement. “Formula E has accompanied the transformation phase at Audi,” says Markus Duesmann. “Today, electromobility at the four rings is no longer a dream of the future, but the present.”
Audi and rally just makes sense, and we look forward to seeing what this prototype looks like in the flesh.
