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Audi launches gas-powered A3

• Audi A3 Sportback g-tron now available in Germany
• CO2-neutral mobility with the Audi e-gas fuel card
•  VW's Ulrich Hackenberg said: “E-gas is an important pillar of our sustainability strategy”

INGOLSTADT, Germany - An Audi A3 equipped to provide the most environmentally friendly form of long-distance mobility will soon be on to German roads.

IMAGE GALLERY- Audi A3 g-tron

The Audi A3 Sportback g-tron is part of a sustainable mobility concept. Its 1.4-litre TFSI engine develops 80kW and can burn natural gas, e-gas generated by Audi, or petrol.

In pure e-gas mode, Audi says, people will power their car “with minimal impact on the environment”.

ONLY FOR GERMAN ROADS

The A3 Sportback g-tron will be priced from the equivalent of R388 000 in Germany. According to Audi: “Due to the lack of infrastructure required to fully implement natural gas filling stations, there are no plans for Audi to introduce this model elsewhere.”  

Audi e-gas is a synthetic methane produced at the automaker’s e-gas facility located in Werlte, Germany, and is the world’s first industrial power-to-gas plant. Electricity is used in the production of e-gas and the process of generating it binds as much CO2 as is released when the A3 g-tron is driven on gas.

According to Audi, the g-tron consumes about 3.2 - 3.3 kg of gas/100km. Fuel costs start at the equivalent R52/100km.

Audi records the amount of gas a customer buy through an e-gas fuel card and ensures that the corresponding amount of gas is fed into the German natural-gas network.

People who choose this option can obtain an e-gas fuel card for the equivalent of R223/month. The costs of the gas deducted via the fuel card.

Board member for technical development at Audi, Ulrich Hackenberg, said: “In addition to our e-mobility developments, the Audi e-gas project is an important pillar of our sustainability strategy – as is the development of other synthetic fuels.”

The automaker is already operating a research facility to make e-ethanol and e-diesel with partner Joule in Hobbs and conducting research into the manufacture of synthetic e-gas in co-operation with Global Bioenergies.

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