Automotive Design and Production

SEP 2014

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For a racer in the 6 megajoule (MJ) class, this translates to expending no more than 1.67 kWh of electrical energy per lap. This harvesting and disbursement of energy takes place lap after lap, day and night, and rewards the constructor who is fast, efcient and—most importantly—durable. Three manufacturers squared of this year: Audi, Porsche and Toyota. Each took a diferent path, and the early leaders were not around at the end to share the victor's spoils. Audi, which has dominated Le Mans for nearly 15 years, took the trophy, but its victory was by no means a given. Porsche and Toyota might have won had they not encountered problems. Audi R18 e-tron quattro Audi stuck with diesel power and the R18 name for its 2014 vehicle, but changed just about everything else. The 4.0- liter V6 turbo diesel is new, not a development of last year's 3.7-liter unit. It features a wide bank angle, which lowers the center of gravity, and allows the ancillaries to be packaged atop the block. Audi chose to compete in the 2 MJ class, which (with the restriction for diesel cars) meant it could use 4.64 liters of fuel per lap. Audi engineers apparently felt the fuel consumption penalty for each step up the electric power ladder was too great, and concentrated on matching storage capacity and energy use in order to keep the R18 as close as possible to the 870-kg (1,918-lb) weight minimum. The company ran only one kinetic energy recover system (KERS), this a Bosch-sourced motor-generator unit (MGU) driving and harvesting energy from the front wheels. This energy is sent/taken from a fywheel storage unit supplied by Williams Hybrid Power, a division of the William F1 team. The thermal energy of the exhaust also is harvested, and this energy is shunted to the fywheel or used to spin up an electric turbocharger. Despite the team having a car crash out early and the remaining two sufer from turbo failures (they were replaced during pit stops), it won the 2014 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. p Front-mounted motor-generator unit is integrated into the axle, and sends and receives its energy from a fywheel storage system. Of the three competitors, Audi chose the lowest energy harvesting limit. q Perhaps the most radical solution, Porsche's 919 combined a 2.0-liter turbocharged four with a KERS unit on the front axle, a thermal unit driven by the turbo, and water-cooled lithium- ion batteries. AD&P; > September 2014 > FEATURE > Racing Toward Electrification > Christopher A. Sawyer 44 AD&P; > September 2014 > FEATURE > Racing Toward Electrification > Christopher A. Sawyer

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