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484 – Green electricity powers Audi cars

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21 August 2010

 

I’M A big fan of trains. I know I write about cars for my living – and love them I do – but that doesn’t stop me liking other forms of transport, too. Cycling, for instance, springs instantly to mind.

But what I particularly like about trains is the sense of occasion at the terminals. The sometimes faded grandeur of London’s main stations doesn’t disguise their theatrical purpose: the start of a journey, the commencement to a destination.

Friends of ours went to Spain this year by rail, travelling first to Paris on the Eurostar, and then down to the Franco-Spanish borders on the high-speed TGV. Yes, it took them longer than by air, but there was no cattle-herding at some gruesome airport, just a relaxed high-speed glide through the countryside.

Now, it seems, Audi has a taste for trains, too. The manufacturers of Vorsprung durch Technik have taken a step backwards in time in terms of travel to embrace not quite the romance of the steam age, but certainly the value of the iron horse.

And it’s all in the name of reducing the car’s impact on the environment.

Audi is using trains powered by green electricity to transport newly-built models from its headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, to the North Sea loading port of Emden with electricity from renewable energy sources. Audi believes it will eliminate the emission of around 5,250 tons of CO2 per year, more than 35 kilograms (77 lb) per car transported.

The CO2-free rail freight transport concept Eco Plus is provided by DB Schenker, the logistics area of German railway operator Deutsche Bahn. The energy required is replaced entirely by renewable energy sourced from Germany. Part of the extra cost of this green electricity is reinvested in renewable energy projects.

So not only are the Audis you drive becoming more energy-efficient, the beginning of their automotive journey is more sustainable, too. Neat.

 

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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