Audi Goes Green With Hybrid Locomotive at Ingolstadt Factory

By Shoumeshwar Sen

1 mins read

Published on November 2, 2015

Highlights

Audi is going the eco-friendly way inside its plant in Ingolstadt, Germany by using a plug-in hybrid locomotive. The Alstom-manufactured 1,000bhp plug-in hybrid will serve at Audi's largest factory and will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 60 tons annually compared to a regular locomotive. This would enable the Volkswagen Group-owned carmaker to achieve an almost CO2-neutral status at the factory. "Our goal is all-round sustainable logistics," stated Johann Schmid, head of the Audi plant railway in Ingolstadt. "The new railway technology allows more economical, energy-efficient and low-emission rail transport. In connection with the latest chassis technology, the plug-in-hybrid locomotive sets new standards in shunting and rail transport. "The size and performance of the locomotives are perfectly tailored to our requirements. Whereas the old traction vehicles consume over 20 litres of fuel per hour, the generator of the hybrid locomotive, which is needed only to charge the battery block, requires a maximum of 9 litres per hour," added Schmid. The new locomotive runs without any emissions inside the plant buildings and can operate for up to two hours at a time in purely electric mode. Its battery is plugged in during breaks for recharging with CO2-free electricity, and is supported by a diesel engine while it is in motion. The automobile plant in Ingolstadt includes 18 kilometres of railways and around 15 goods trains ply everyday at Ingolstadt railway station for Audi, loaded with pressed parts, engines and transmissions, as well as cars from other Audi sites that are ready for delivery to customers. One locomotive carries out up to 75 shunting manoeuvres at the factory every day and operates for an average of 3,800 hours each year. The Volkswagen Group is currently going through a bit of a rough patch due to their not-so-environmentally-friendly EA189 TDI engines. However, they are trying to get their act together on that front and have announced plans to focus on greener cars and more eco-friendly factories.

Last Updated on November 2, 2015

# Volkswagen # Audi # Alstom locomotive # hybrid locomotive # Ingolstadt # Feature

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