Mr. Engine Fuels the Future
By Alistair Weaver, Contributor Email
Date posted: 11-22-2007
Within the Volkswagen Group, Wolfgang Hatz has been affectionately dubbed "Mr. Engine." His career began in 1983 when he joined BMW's Formula 1 program. He then developed the four-cylinder engine for the first E30-based BMW M3 before joining Porsche's Formula 1 program in 1989. Returning to road cars, he developed the 3.8-liter engine in the Porsche 964 RS 3.8 before leaving to join Opel's motorsport division in 1996. Victory in the International Touring Car Championship followed before he joined Fiat in 1997 as the man in charge of the group's engine development — including Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. He joined Audi in 2001 as its head of powertrain development and became the head of powertrain for the entire Volkswagen Group at the beginning of 2007.
We spoke to Wolfgang Hatz at the launch of the new Audi A4.
How important is the new A4 for the Audi brand?
The A4 is the heart of Audi. If it doesn't work, the company will die. It's as simple as that.
Is it true that the architecture of the new A4 is already designed to accommodate a hybrid derivative?
At the Frankfurt auto show, we presented the VW/Audi modular longitudinal architecture (MLB). This allows hybrid technology to be used on all our cars with a longitudinal engine — A4, A6, A8 and Q5 [the forthcoming smaller SUV]. There will be a hybrid A4 in 2.5-3 years.
And there will also be a hybrid design for transverse-engine cars?
This was presented on the Volkswagen stand in Frankfurt. The hybrid technology will be combined with the Group's dual-clutch gearbox. These hybrids will be able to run solely on electric power for a short period of time.
And hybrid SUVs?
Audi, VW and Porsche and will share a hybrid solution for their SUVs. This will be introduced with the next-generation Cayenne in about two-and-a-half years time. Rather than introduce it now, it's better to wait for the next generation of cars, which will also feature a revised transmission technology.
Will hybrid become the dominant power source in the next few years?
Hybrid technology is a very expensive way to save a small amount of fuel. The cost/benefit analysis is quite on the expensive side, but we're politically pressed to develop hybrids by the U.S. market.
If someone said that every car must be a hybrid, the car industry would be bankrupt quicker than anything else. Even Toyota would have problems if they had to produce hybrids in high volumes. But politically we have to do a certain amount of hybrids.
Does diesel power have a successful future in the U.S.?
Next year, Audi will introduce a diesel A4 in the U.S. that will be available in all 50 states. We hope to be the first to comply with the Californian emissions regulations.
The diesel market will start small but grow fast. The experience in Europe suggests that people who drive a diesel never go back to gas. If you stand by a modern A4, it's hard to tell that it's a diesel. I'm quite sure that we'll achieve a higher market share with diesel than hybrid.
What about diesel hybrids?
For fuel economy, this is the best option, but it's a very expensive solution.
Is there too much emphasis on carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions?
There is too much emphasis. Politically, it's very popular to say that you're going to ban cars that emit over 225g/km of carbon dioxide in London, but it won't make any difference to the ambient atmosphere. It's more important to make sure that all cars are fitted with particulate filters than to reduce the CO2.
Is there still a future for large, powerful cars?
The new RS6 is a very powerful car, but if we only produce 3,000-4,000 each year, the ambient will not be hurt at all. But we are also working on the VW up!. If we do 500,000 of them that emit less than 100g/km of CO2, then this will help the ambient.
We have a big fleet and we are working to reduce fuel consumption, but we should also have the freedom to develop big cars with small volumes. The VW Group produces over 6 million cars each year and big cars represent only a small percentage. We only build 30,000 A8s each year.
Saying that we should only drive small cars is like saying that we should all live in tiny apartments.
Is hydrogen power the best long-term fuel solution?
Hydrogen only makes sense if it's produced from a regenerative source. If you produce it from electrolysis, the efficiency is just 50 percent. We don't know how to produce or transport it efficiently, which means that it's better to use regenerative energy for other things. I don't think it will be an alternative in the next 30 years. It doesn't make sense.
Gas and diesel will still be around in 30 years' time. Both will survive because we need to extract both the heavy and the light fuels to achieve the maximum efficiency from our oil. We have to use our energy in the best way.
