Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Audi A7 Plug-In H-tron

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I hadn't heard of the Ford or Mazda PHFCs, but this seems like a good concept to compete with Volt or other plug in ICE hybrids...

They don't exist - for political reasons, I thought. Hydrogen fuel cells are largely a move by oil to protect their monopoly, AFAICT. That's why I was shocked that Audi suggested this, even as a concept.

It certainly makes a lot of technical sense - it's the only approach that might be a practical competitor for big battery EVs for the near-mid term, but no one has ever touched it which I took as proof that they cared more about presenting an alternative in people's heads than about making a car they could sell for a profit and keep green.
Walter
 
Beautiful article about this car at Inside EVs, with some nice videos from Audi -

Audi Unveils Plug-In A7 Sportback h-tron At 2014 LA Auto Show

I have no idea why Audi wants to pursue this. Look at the sheer amount of parts and mechanicals!!! Not much space left over for passengers & cargo.

Can you imagine the "polar moment of inertia" ? That is the ability of the car to happily change direction. With all that mass ahead of, and behind, the axles, this car will not handle well in turns. The center of gravity looks to be uncomfortably high, too. The electric battery is at the same height as the tops of the tyres. The opportunity to position equipment below the seats is completely lost, and as usual there are tunnels intruding into the passenger cabin. (the classic problem of not designing a car from the ground up for its purpose)

I guarantee this will be one of Audi's least popular cars, based on its performance, and the price for that performance assuming it costs over $100K. The lack of availability of hydrogen doesn't even come into it.

0-62 = 7.9 seconds
curb weight 4,299lbs
top speed 112mph

Audi says the top speed is "a top speed for its field of competitors." Does this car only compare with other FCVs? If so... sure, it's awesome!!! :biggrin:
 
Eeeks. Remind me to not follow too closely behind one of these. Anyone remember the Ford Pinto?

A7h140013-750x530.jpg
 
Not only is it incredibly complex, just look at the packaging.
There is so much stuff that it fills the entire nose of the car and the entire trunk of the car.
They even got some stuff between the wheels but actually manage to waste most of that space.

They could delete the air compressor, the H2 recirculator, the H2 piping and filling port, the fuel cell, and the H2 tanks.
Then they just need to make the battery a little bigger and put it under the floor and then they would have a great car.
 
It is incomprehensible to me why AUDI would be so stupid as to make that car when they could obviously make an EV that would be far simpler and be an all around better car. They know how to make an EV, why are they resisting it? I think it is because, like all car manufacturers, they are scared to death of making a good long range EV that would take sales away from their ICE vehicles: there is obviously no possibility that a fuel cell/plug in hybrid car will ever do that!. So instead they make these ridiculous compliance cars in an amazingly shortsighted attempt to forestall the inevitable. Their stupidity is mind boggling.
 
Last edited:
I think they are also locked into a mindset where they think their customers demand 5 minute fill ups. And I'm sure they're right - if you ask anyone who's never owned an EV and experienced filling up at home of course that's what they're going to say. There's a refueling mindset shift that is hard for some to get.
 
The people who run the other car companies are indeed locked into an ICE mindset. If they would try living with a Model S for their only transportation for a week, and had adequate home charging available (even just 40A), they would realize how antiquated their current products are, and that the claimed quick refueling advantage of an FCV is an illusion since 95% of the time most EV owners do their charging that way (my estimate based on no actual data). But I doubt they have had an extended Model S experience, just quick test drives at best.
 
I think they are also locked into a mindset where they think their customers demand 5 minute fill ups. And I'm sure they're right - if you ask anyone who's never owned an EV and experienced filling up at home of course that's what they're going to say. There's a refueling mindset shift that is hard for some to get.

The "customers demand 5 minute fill ups" is the 21st century equivalent of "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse".
 
The "customers demand 5 minute fill ups" is the 21st century equivalent of "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse".

Exactly!

Same holds true for The Innovators Dilemma - companies become captive to their current customer's demands and end up missing the boat once new, disruptive technology eventually becomes good enough and more widely accepted (mindset change in their customers). Such exciting times we live in to see this play out!