Audi has its sights set on the 2022 Dakar Rally and the firm plans to take part with the electric RS Q e-tron!

The Dakar Rally is the toughest rally on this planet and Audi wants to make history by becoming the first manufacturer to use an electric drivetrain to compete against conventionally powered competitors.

“The quattro was a gamechanger for the World Rally Championship. Audi was the first brand to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with an electrified drivetrain. Now, we want to usher in a new era at the Dakar Rally, while testing and further developing our e-tron technology under extreme conditions,” says Julius Seebach, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH

Enter the RS Q e-tron

The RS Q e-tron will undergo rigorous testing before it takes part in the 2022 Dakar Rally.

The Dakar Rally runs over a period of 2 weeks and each day poses significant challenges for competitors. Vast distances, up to 800 km, are covered daily and electric range is the ultimate challenge to overcome for any electric car that attempts to take part in the Dakar Rally.

“That’s a very long distance,” says Andreas Roos, responsible for the Dakar project at Audi Sport. “What we are trying to do has never been done before. This is the ultimate challenge for an electric drivetrain.”

The RS Q e-tron’s electric powertrain consists of a motor-generator unit (MGU) on both the front and rear axle derived from the Audi e-tron FE07 Formula E car, but it’s been adapted slightly for its intended Dakar application.

More so, in conjunction with a third motor-generator unit, the RS Q e-tron is equipped with a TFSI engine from the DTM which forms part of the energy converter that serves to charge the high-voltage battery while the vehicle is in operation. The battery weighs about 370 kg’s and has a capacity of about 50 kWh. The battery is also charged via brake energy regeneration.

Maximum system power output is claimed at 500kW! Only one forward gear is required for the RS Q e-tron and unlike most electric vehicles, the front and rear axles are not mechanically connected. Audi uses software to manage torque distribution between the axles which is essentially a virtual and freely configurable center differential. This also results in weight and space savings as there’s no need for a propshaft and mechanical differential.

An intensive test program lies ahead for the RS Q e-tron prototype as it prepares for the Dakar Rally which is due to take place in January 2022 in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

We can’t wait to see how the Audi RS Q e-tron performs in the Dakar Rally!

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