Audi Testing A1 e-tron in Munich

Audi has begun a pilot program in Munich with the electric utilities Stadtwerke Muenchen and E.ON and the Munich Technical University (TUM) by releasing 20 of its A1 e-tron cars for fleet testing. The public utility has installed charging locations throughout the city to refuel the cars. Some users had actually recieved their cars weeks ago, but Audi is officially starting the program on October 28 after handing out the last of the keys. 

"We want to use this fleet trial to learn more about our customers’ usage of electric cars, and their expectations in this regard. We are planning additional fleet endeavors in strategically important markets," said Franciscus van Meel, Head of Electric Mobility Strategy at AUDI AG.

The Audi A1 e-tron is a range-extended electric vehicle that produces 102hp. The car has a 50km range on pure eletric power and a further 250km from the range extender. It consumes 1.9l/100km and produces 45g/km of CO2. 

"We have set up not only public charging points near large cities but also innovative charging points at multi-level parking lots in city centers," said Ruth Werhahn, Head of Electric Mobility at E.ON AG. 

TUM will be collecting driving data from the participants and will compile a report about their behavior similar to what BMW has done with its electric Minis. 

It is pretty ballsy of Audi to test its new electric car in the heart of its biggest competitor, BMW. I am sure there are 20 experimental souls and decent enough roads an hour up the road in its own headquarters in Ingolstadt.