[car fanatics]

Audi
Photo credit: Audi
February 27, 2012
By: CF staff

• Audi battery-electric vehicle in-market program debuts in U.S.
  

• Research-based A3 e-tron pilot program to serve as a learning tool for next-gen Audi EV applications world wide
  

• At TED, Audi engages attendees in a progressive conversation about urban mobility and “The City 2.0” with the A3 e-tron and Audi A2 concept vehicle
  

Audi today announced the battery-electric Audi A3 e-tron pilot program in the U.S. to define a progressive e-mobility driver experience for premium car buyers. Audi made the announcement of the engineering-based pilot program for the A3 e-tron today at TED2012 in Long Beach, Calif., where Audi is presenting a vision for the role transportation will play in the world’s increasingly congested urban centers of the future.

The A3 e-tron pilot program marks the first step by Audi into the expanding U.S. electric vehicle landscape, which is a central component of the discussion expected at the Audi Social Space at TED2012.

At TED2012, Audi intends to spark a progressive dialogue about the role transportation will play in the global megacities of the future. The Audi Social Space will present a variety of perspectives on this topic on touch-screen video installations allowing attendees to pose new mobility scenarios for future urban spaces and contribute in real time to Audi’s live Twitter feed through the #TEDAudi hashtag.

Elements of Audi balanced mobility initiatives will provide a backdrop for the interactive Social Space and spark conversation on future urban mobility and how to achieve CO2 neutrality across the mobility chain. Initiatives include: the lightweight A2 concept EV that features technology built specifically for the megacity of the future, like traffic-friendly piloted drive technologies for stop-and-go congestion; the Audi e-gas project, which utilizes offshore wind turbines to generate clean power for the production of electricity, hydrogen and methane; and futuristic cityscapes designed by partner architects of the Audi Urban Future Initiative.