The electric car sector is today one of the most competitive on the market. While the thermal cars tend to be completely renewed every seven years, with a mid-cycle restyling after four years, the electric models undergo continuous modifications of both hardware and software to cope with new proposals that continue unabated reach the international scene.
The addition of more efficient motors, more capable batteries and more powerful charging systems are the order of the day. Without going any further, brands such as Tesla or Renault tend to introduce relatively deep modifications to their electric cars every so often (in the case of Tesla, software updates are also carried out via OTA continuously).
However, after just one year on sale, Audi took the cake last year when it introduced some improvements to the powertrain, braking system, and battery management of its e-Tron. These modifications made it possible to improve the autonomy of the e-Tron 55 (the most capable version), which went from 260 miles to 270 miles.
The batteries in the Audi e-Tron have a capacity of 95 gross kWh (86.5 kWh useful). The core of its cooling system is made up of extruded profiles, which form a visually comparable structure to a slatted bed base attached to the battery casing from the bottom using a newly created thermally conduct adhesive.
The space between the housing and each module is filled with a heat-conducting gel capable of uniformly transferring heat from the cells to the cooling system through the house. Thus allowing the temperature to be kept constant between 25º C and 35º C. The Audi e-Tron has four circuits consisting of 40 refrigeration lines, through which 22 liters of refrigerant circulate.
Thanks to this elaborate design, Audi promises, in addition to excellent resistance in the event of an accident, high efficiency during charging. The car can be charged at the maximum power threshold (150 kW) between 5% and 70% when the vast majority of competitors are only able to reach peak power for short periods.
This is possible thanks to the enormous heat dissipation capacity that the premium SUV boasts when charging at high power in direct current. The e-Tron 55 is capable of charging 80% in just 30 minutes, gaining 110 km in less than 10 minutes. Going from 5% to 100% will take around 45 minutes, a remarkably low figure (the final 20% on electric cars charges slowly). On the other hand, from summer Audi will optionally equip a 22 kW AC charger (until now it was 11 kW).