Audi unveils its new charging simulator in Ingolstadt

The Development Department of Audi has just inaugurated its new charging test facility in the German city of Ingolstadt, where the company’s headquarters and main production plant are also located. This space features a grid simulator that allows Audi engineers to charge any electric vehicle of the brand under exactly the same conditions they would encounter in China, the United States or any other country in the world.

This grid simulator is capable of replicating different power supply systems, thus facilitating charging tests with the various voltages and frequencies typical of different locations around the world, without leaving Ingolstadt.

Until now, these tests required sending a team of engineers to any point in the world and keeping them there for several days until the tests were completed. From now on, thanks to this new simulator, such trips will no longer be necessary, which will save Audi a significant sum of money, the estimated amount of which has not yet been disclosed.

Few manufacturers have facilities similar to these

Audi thus becomes one of the first manufacturers to have a grid simulator with these characteristics. The company explains that the results obtained in charging tests carried out with this simulator will have an impact on research and the development of new electric models of the brand, which will help improve the charging experience for users, regardless of their location.

The development of this simulator was made possible thanks to the collaboration between Audi and the also German company Bosch Rexroth, as well as Schmidbaur, which was in charge of carrying out the installation. According to Audi, this simulator has an output power of 500 kW, offering a voltage range of 100 to 540 volts and frequencies from 40 to 65 hertz. It is compatible with single-phase, two-phase and three-phase grids, and can also operate in split-phase mode. This grid simulator is also housed in a container, which makes it possible to connect it to different charging stations to carry out all kinds of charging tests.

With the grid simulator, Audi can verify whether its electric models are able to complete a charge correctly at stations in the United States or China, to name just a few examples. Additionally, thanks to this new system, the engineers at the Ingolstadt plant will be able to better understand how each electric model interacts with the charging station. Using the data collected in the process, they will also be able to optimise the vehicle software to ensure compatibility with the charging points of the most relevant stations.