Audi on Diesel in the U.S., the RS Line, the NA V-10’s Future, and the 2017 A8

Is Stefan Knirsch drinking from the chalice marked poison? He took over as chief of Audi research and development in January. His predecessor, Ulrich Hackenberg, had resigned after the diesel emissions scandal. The VW Group as a whole has just put aside $18 billion to cover owner compensation, possible litigation, and other after-effects.

What does this mean for Audi’s R & D spending? Will it be trimmed to cover that hole in the finances? And will Knirsch be able to protect other development? Or is his whole effort be directed to fixing up the diesels? “No, our R & D spending is up,” he says. “We at Audi are the group center for large engines, the longitudinal engine platform, piloted [autonomous] driving, fuel cells, and more.”

We meet at the launch of the SQ7. As a high-performance crossover, it should be a safe bet to do hot business in the US. Except it runs on diesel. Is diesel dead and buried in the U.S.? “It isn’t,” he says. “Customers and dealers have said Audi Q models must come with diesel engines. They have a 550-mile range in U.S. conditions.”

But Audi has also been accelerating its electrification program. “The e-Tron crossover [previewed accurately by the concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt show] will be on sale by the end of 2018,” he says, “and it will have a 500-km (312-mile) range.” But beware. That range figure is on the European test cycle; expect less on the U.S. cycle.

“The battery is more than 90 kW-hrs,” Knirsch says. “It will have a next-step battery. We will build our own battery packs. But we’ll use whatever cells are working best. Competition in cells helps both the technical side and the commercial side—cost. That’s why we’re doing this. Our battery can use round cells or pouch cells or prismatic cells. We’ll use the latest generation from Samsung or LG with top energy density. A 150-kW charger will charge it in half an hour. You’ll drink two coffees instead of one.”

After the pure-EV version of the concept, Audi showed a fuel-cell version. “The same car will be available as a pure EV, a PHEV, and eventually a fuel-cell vehicle, but not as a conventional combustion car,” Knirsch says.

“We will have a production-ready fuel cell car soon. The cost will come down dramatically with scale effects. But introduction depends on infrastructure. We don’t think there will be enough [hydrogen stations] outside Japan before 2020.”

Even if he doesn’t know the timescale, he stands up for the idea of fuel cells. “Fuel cell has advantages over an EV,” he says. “You can refill it in three or four minutes. It’s lighter than a battery vehicle. And in some markets EVs won’t count as zero-emission vehicles because of the CO2 to generate electricity. At Audi we have a built a small zero-CO2 hydrogen plant. And other plants can make hydrogen overnight using spare green electricity.” This means hydrogen production can effectively buffer unused wind and solar generation for times when generation falls off.

Tesla’s EVs have beaten Audi to the market by long years. How can Audi become more like Tesla? “Definitely not by making losses,” Knirsch says. “Yes, they are agile and fast, and they take risks. But they are not disruptive. They’re becoming more like other car companies now, Silicon Valley people say. We are working with Nvidia to build our systems using real Silicon Valley thinking.”

An example? “We will have Level 3 autonomous driving in the 2017 A8,” he says. “We call it Traffic Jam Pilot. It works up to 60 km/h (37 mph), and there’s no limit to how long you can take your hands off the wheel. That’s Level 3 autonomous driving. Tesla’s system is only Level 2; the driver still needs to pay attention. The A8 can do this without external signals or vehicle-to-vehicle communication or detailed maps. But it will be able to take advantage of swarm intelligence, learning new road layouts or slippery surfaces in real time from other cars.”

The A8 (the current-generation model is shown here) will also have higher-speed lane keep assist radar cruise, as on Q7 now. But that system warns the driver to put his or her hands back on the wheel every few seconds.

Will the A8 use carbon fiber, as the BMW 7 Series does? “There will be some carbon in the new A8,” Knirsch says. “You’ll see a material mix, using carbon for both hang-on panels and the structure.”

Audi has launched the Q2 and is reported to be working on a sporty Q4 and top-end Q8. Will Audi make more crossovers? A one-word answer. “Obviously.”

Amid all this talk of electrification, digitization, and autonomous driving, what will become of Audi’s RS line? “Stephan Winkelmann [former head of Lamborghini] is in place as head of Quattro GmbH,” Knirsch says. “We put him there for a reason. To expand it. The RS6 is working very well. There will be successors. The TT RS does well. We’re working to enlarge our portfolio.”

But will the power race continue with S and RS models? “No. The number of cylinders won’t increase,” he says. “That’s over. The cars are fast enough. No one is missing anything there. Performance values aren’t necessarily just power. We are reducing weight.”

Does the naturally aspirated V-10 have a future? “Yes. We love it,” he says. “It will survive.”

Knirsch’s previous assignment before the top R & D job was as head of powertrain. Whatever else he has taken on now—design, body, chassis, autonomous driving, and more—it’s clear that powertrains both conventional and alternative are still going to be giving him some very long days.

 

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