Audi team racer Mattias Ekstrom and navigator Emil Bergkvist successfully added to the German team's trophy collection at the 2022 Dakar Rally.
The reason is, Mattias Ekstrom managed to occupy the second podium on stage six of the 2022 Dakar Rally which was held on Friday (7/1/2022).
Thus, Mattias Ekstrom followed in the footsteps of his two teammates, Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz Sr. to present a podium for the Audi team during the 2022 Dakar Rally.
Audi's achievement is quite unique, because it is one of the teams where all successful drivers can climb the podium at the 2022 Dakar Rally.
Speaking of unique, the Audi RS Q e-Tron race car driven by Ekstrom, Peterhansel, and Sainz is also not unique.
Because unlike its competitors in the 2022 Dakar Rally car category, the Audi RS Q e-tron uses a hybrid system.
Where the gasoline engine used by the Audi RS Q e-tron is only in charge of supplying power to the two electric motors contained in the car. Thus, the Audi RS Q e-tron is fully driven by an electric motor.
“(Using a hybrid system) Due to the current battery technology, making a pure electric racing car for the Dakar Rally is still impossible,” said Lukas Folie, Audi Battery Engineer, quoted from audi-mediacenter.com (21/12/2021).
Speaking of unusual, the gasoline engine and electric motor in the Audi RS Q e-tron are also not arbitrary.
The petrol engine of the Audi RS Q e-tron is a 2,000 cc TFSI turbo four-cylinder petrol engine that they use in the German touring car racing event, namely DTM.
Meanwhile, the two electric motorcycles belonging to the Audi RS Q e-tron are taken directly from their Formula E electric racing car, the e-tron FE07.
Actually, the Audi RS Q e-tron has three electric motors, also known as the Motor-Generator Unit (MGU).
But the third MGU only functions as a power converter or converter produced by the gasoline engine into electrical energy.
Electrical energy is also stored in a battery with a capacity of 52 kWh weighing 370 kilograms, which continues to be charged throughout the race.
However, the power consumption of the Audi RS Q e-torn during the race may exceed the amount generated by the generator.
So that the Dakar Rally's first hybrid car can also generate power from energy regeneration when braking like electric and hybrid cars in general.
