Audi A3 Plug-in Hybrid Could Wed Clean Diesel and Battery Power

Audi could be in a very good position for attracting attention from green car shoppers. The company introduced an A3 plug-in at the Shanghai auto show this week. The version of the car being presented at the show is an A3 e-tron PHEV with a turbocharged, direct-injection 4-cylinder gas engine with a 20 kiloWatt electric motor and a rechargeable 12-kW-hour lithium-ion battery pack that can go 34 miles on battery before the gas engine kicks in. It will get up to 238 horsepower when gas and electric sources are operating in tandem.

So, what if Audi combined the award winning, high mileage turbocharged diesel engine A3 TDI with its plug-in hybrid technology? I would think the diesel engine range would be farther than the 34 miles the gasoline engine goes. The Edmunds article doesn't mention the diesel engine version. The A3 plug-in hybrid could be on the road by 2013. The gas-powered powered version of the new A3 is due to hit showrooms next year, and Audi also has shown an all-electric version of the present A3 sportwagon. But let's wait and see if clean diesel and plug-in are wedded someday.

Diesel More Popular than Gasoline

According to American Petroleum Institute (and reported in Autoblog Green), gasoline deliveries in the US dropped slightly in July - 9.3 million barrels a day, down 0.03% from a year ago. At the same time, petroleum was up 3.8% from a year ago, much of it driven by demand for low sulfur distillates, commonly used to make diesel fuel. It appears to be coming from the trucking industry coming back after a slight rebound in the economy.

It's possible the rising diesel demand has something to do with the increasing popularity of clean diesel vehicles. German automakers are bringing more of these to the U.S. market, with good examples being recent Green Car of the Year award winners Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Audi A3 TDI. New technology innovations like turbocharged direct injection (TDI) are facilitating greater power and performance with increased fuel economy. It will be interesting to see if Americans change their opinions about diesel engines from spewing smoke and smog with irritating noise, to being clean and efficient.