The eGas project of Audi: a new push for gas as a fuel

Among the literally hundreds of news stories about battery cars or emerging hydrogen cars that we see every month, every now and then we come across something about gas, which may not be very “politically correct”, but which is a fuel that deserves more attention than it gets.

Audi has unveiled the fundamentals of its eGas project, aimed at converting its TFI engines to run on synthetic gas produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity; this same gas can be used as an energy source for battery-powered vehicles or also for manufacturing the methane from which CNG is derived.

The eGas project began three years ago and has now entered the practical testing stage. In other words, before long we will see the first cars running on gas converted through this process. As part of the project, a system of wind turbines is being built in the North Sea to generate the cleanest possible energy, which will be used to produce the renewable electricity, together with the hydrogen needed for electrolysis.

The first example of this type of vehicle is the Audi A3 TCNG, whose bi-fuel TFSI engine is designed to run on petrol as well as to handle the octane rating of e-gas, the so-called synthetic natural gas. The A3 TCNG will be available in 2013 as one more option among alternative fuels.

Via | Green Car Congress