At the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, Audi made a historic achievement with the first hybrid cars to win that race. While the title of this site is Electric Race News, we’ll mark this achievement under the rubric of “Electrified Vehicle Racing” because it was an electrified vehicle which won the race.
The vehicle in question was four Audi R18 e-ton Quattro’s. With this car Audi Sport Team Joest took 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th places in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
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| Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F) |
“By achieving this further success at the world’s most important endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological expertise in a particularly impressive way,” commented Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, who personally watched the race on location. “With the e-tron quattro in combination with ultra lightweight design, we put a completely new technology on the grid and immediately won with it – this cannot be taken for granted by any means, particularly here at Le Mans. This weekend again showed the type of things that can happen in this race and how important perfect preparation is.”
The winning group, consisted of drivers Marcel Fässler (CH), André Lotterer (D) and Benoît Tréluyer (F), who were also the winners of the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Audi describes the drive train as the “all-wheel drive of the future in which the conventional drive system is intelligently combined with an electrically driven axle.” Audi is already testing this technology in which the drive shaft is replaced by electric cables for use in production vehicles. Operating at the rear of all four Audi R18 cars was the latest evolution of the compact V6 TDI engine with VTG mono turbocharger that was used at Le Mans for the first time in 2011. The new ultra-light transmission with a carbon fiber housing – a novelty in a Le Mans sports car – held up to the Le Mans endurance test covering a distance of 5.151 kilometers in all four vehicles without any problems as well. Like quatto all-wheel drive, ultra-lightweight design is a core competency of the company.
In addition to this marking the first time a hybrid car has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it was also the first time a hybrid car took the pole position to open the race. André Lotterer in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro designated as car number “1” to achieve a fastest lap of 3m 23.787s in the final qualifying session on Thursday night shortly after 22:00 – and thus an improvement of last year’s best time by nearly two seconds. André Lotterer in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro designated as car number “1” to achieve a fastest lap of 3m 23.787s in the final qualifying session on Thursday night shortly after 22:00 – and thus an improvement of last year’s best time by nearly two seconds.
Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen in the number “2” Audi R18 e-tron quattro set the fourth-fastest lap (3m 25.433s) behind the quickest hybrid vehicle from Toyota. Le Mans rookie Marco Bonanomi in the number “4” Audi R18 ultra took grid position six (3m 26.420 s. This meant that all four vehicles fielded by Audi Sport Team Joest qualified for the three front rows.
Audi is fielding two varieties of the Audi R18 in this years FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC); the R18 ultra and the R18 e-tron quattro. This first diesel hybrid race car at Le Mans fundamentally differs from the conventionally powered model in some respects. The e-tron quattro, for example, has an electrically driven front axle in addition to the conventional rear-wheel drive, a motor generator unit (MGU) on the front axle, a rotating mass storage device, an additional cooling system and new detailed solutions.
“This makes it all the more surprising that our engineers have implemented a principle featuring a high level of carry-over parts,” emphasizes Dr. Ullrich in praise of his team’s achievements. “The R18 ultra is the basis that has made it possible to make the R18 e-tron quattro reality in the first place. We would have had no chance if we hadn’t achieved the weight saving between our 2011 Le Mans winner, the R18 TDI, and the current R18 ultra because we had to additionally package the entire hybrid system in the vehicle. And in spite of this, we continued to pursue the aim of staying below the minimum weight of 900 kg in order to have some latitude to balance the car with ballast.”
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| Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F) |
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| Start with leading Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F) |
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| Audi R18 ultra #3 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Romain Dumas (F), Loïc Duval (F), Marc Gene (E) |
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| Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F) |
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| Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest), Marcel Fassler (CH), Andre Lotterer (D), Benoit Treluyer (F) |
Technical data Audi R18 e-tron quattro / ultra (2012)
Version: February 2012
| Model Vehicle |
Audi R18 e-tron quattro / ultra (2012) |
| Vehicle type |
Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) |
| Monocoque |
Carbon-fiber composite with aluminum honeycomb, tested according to the strict FIA crash and safety standards |
| Battery |
Lithium ion batteries |
| Engine |
Turbocharged 120° V6, 4 valves per cylinder, DOHC, 1 Garrett turbocharger, mandatory intake air restrictor of 1 x 45.8 mm diameter and turbo boost pressure limited to 2.8 bar absolute, diesel direct injection TDI Fully stressed aluminum cylinder block, diesel particle filter |
| Engine management |
Bosch MS24 |
| Engine lubrication |
Dry sump, Castrol |
| Displacement |
3,700 cc |
| Power Over |
375 kW / 510 hp |
| Torque Over |
850 Nm |
| Hybrid system* |
| Type of accumulator |
Electric flywheel accumulator, max 500 KJ, WHP |
| Motor Generator Unit (MGU) |
MGU on the front axle, water cooled with integrated power electronics, 2 x 75 kW |
| Drive / transmission |
| Type of drive |
Rear wheel drive, traction control (ASR), four-wheel drive e-tron quattro from 120 km/h* |
| Clutch Carbon clutch |
Gearbox Sequential, electrically activated 6-speed racing gearbox |
| Differential |
Limited-slip rear differential |
| Gearbox housing |
Carbon-fiber composite with titanium inserts |
| Driveshafts |
Constant velocity sliding tripod universal joints |
| Suspension / steering / brakes |
| Steering |
Electrical assisted rack and pinion steering |
| Suspension |
Front and rear double wishbone independent suspension, front pushrod system and rear pull rod system with adjustable dampers |
| Brakes |
Hydraulic dual circuit brake system, mono bloc light alloy brake calipers, ventilated carbon disc brakes front and rear, infinitely manually adjustable front and rear brake balance |
| Wheels |
O.Z. magnesium forged wheels |
| Tires |
Michelin Radial, Front: 360/710-18, rear: 370/710-18 |
| Weight / dimensions |
| Length |
4,650 mm |
| Width |
2,000 mm |
| Height |
1,030 mm |
| Minimum |
weight 900 kg |
| Fuel |
tank capacity 58*/60 liters |
| *Different specification for R18 e-tron quattro |
