The Audi code for sustainability

This mission is well under way: Audi has set itself the ambitious goal of being net carbon-neutral¹ throughout the company by 2050. For this purpose, the company launched Mission:Zero, the production division’s environmental program that has advanced decarbonization in this area considerably. The plants in Győr (Hungary) and Brussels are already net carbon-neutral¹, as is production of the Audi e-tron GT quattro at the Böllinger Höfe site in Neckarsulm. Audi aims to achieve this at all its production sites by 2025.

Digitalizing production is a key lever on the challenging path of Mission:Zero with its sustainability goals of decarbonization, resource efficiency, water usage and biodiversity. Efficient systems and innovative high-tech solutions are the cornerstones of fully connected, digitalized and sustainable production. Four examples show that efficiency and sustainability in production complement each other perfectly thanks to digitalized processes.

The idea is as simple as it is effective: In a pilot project in Neckarsulm, Audi employees are currently producing assembly tools themselves from plastic waste – with the help of 3D printers. For this purpose, packaging used to protect fragile components, such as loudspeakers or sensors, is collected and sorted by type. With the help of special equipment, these plastic blisters are shredded into granules and dried. A filament maker heats the granules to temperatures as high as 450 degrees Celsius and then presses them into plastic filaments. These are the source material for the 3D printers, which subsequently create production tools from them. In this way, employees not only get tools that are tailored precisely to the task at hand; they also receive them more quickly and sustainably than assembly tools that are manufactured externally and from plastic that has not been recycled. Among the tools are pressing aids, which are a kind of extended finger that makes it easier for production workers to attach clips to the car body, or assembly tools that can be used to accurately fit the four Audi rings to the rear of the car, for example. The 3D printing experts at the site have also developed their own software that can cut the design time for assembly equipment by up to 80 percent.

Digital, connected working with significantly fewer business trips – 3D scans make this a reality. Moreover, virtual planning makes processes more efficient and sustainable. The Audi e-tron GT quattro, for example, is the first Audi model for which the assembly procedures and associated logistics processes were tested exclusively virtually and without any physical prototypes. With the help of virtual reality (VR), every work step and every action were simulated in advance in digital space. This kind of virtual planning is now used throughout the Group and provides for completely new work processes – and not just during the coronavirus pandemic. To ensure that everything runs smoothly in the factory later on, the production facility in question must be reproduced accurately and to scale. Using special hardware and software, the 3D scans create a virtual reproduction, including all equipment, tools and shelves. The 300,000 square meters of production space at the Neckarsulm site, where the Audi e-tron GT quattro is manufactured, have already been digitalized for this.

Thanks to the VR solution Audi has developed, employees from all over the world can meet in virtual environments, work collaboratively and optimize the later production processes at an early stage. Virtual planning is particularly sustainable because it saves not only time, but also materials by reducing the number of expensive prototypes. It also cuts carbon emissions by eliminating the need for business trips.

Saving costs and time while also protecting the environment – Audi achieves all this with overspray-free painting (OFP). This means that two different colors are applied in the same painting process – first the entire body in the customer’s preferred color, then the roof in black. Until now, two-color paint finishes have inevitably involved two painting processes, with masking-off beforehand.

OFP technology revolutionizes this time-consuming and material-intensive process. A robot-controlled high-precision instrument measures the laser-brazed seam between the car’s roof and side panel frame. An applicator then applies a black paint that was specially developed for this method to the roof – with millimeter precision and without spray mist. The precise alignment of the fine strips of black paint creates a clearly defined contrast to the rest of the car – all in one painting line and in a single painting process. OFP technology not only reduces the amount of paint used; it also eliminates the need for masking material. This enables Audi to save resources and to offer its customers a further customization option through a contrasting paint finish. The paint shop in particular show how important the use of state-of-the-art technologies is for resource-friendly production. Audi requires much less material simply because of improved application techniques that reduce the thickness of the individual paint coats by micrometers. Considering the production of the raw materials, this also saves energy and emissions in the supply and disposal chain – so using less paint benefits the environment in a number of ways.

This BattMAN may not save human lives as a super-hero, but it can give a second life to used high-voltage batteries. For Audi, environmental protection and resource conservation do not end with the delivery of the vehicles – recycling allows high-voltage batteries to be used again in a wide variety of applications.

The BattMAN (Battery Monitoring Analysis Necessity) ReLife analysis software developed by Audi Brussels in collaboration with recycling experts at Volkswagen Group Components examines the condition of high-voltage batteries in a matter of minutes.

This quick check is utilized at the battery recycling pilot plant that Volkswagen Group Components has been operating in Salzgitter since early 2021. Depending on the capacity that the test system determines, there are three possible scenarios for a battery:

1. Remanufacturing: Due to its good to very good condition, the battery can be remanufactured and then used as a replacement part in an electric vehicle.
   
2. Second life: Due to its fair to good condition, the battery can have a second life outside an electric vehicle for many years to come, for example as stationary storage in a fast-charging station such as an Audi Charging Hub.
3. Efficient Recycling: Batteries and battery modules that have really reached the end of their useful life are carefully broken down by mechanical processes, yielding individual fractions such as aluminum, copper, plastics and “black powder” for recycling. The “black powder” contains graphite and valuable battery raw materials like lithium, nickel, manganese and graphite, which can be separated by hydrometallurgical processes and then reprocessed.

The test procedure using BattMAN ReLife software enables Audi to return high-voltage batteries to the reusable materials cycle and conserve resources. Recycling helps ensure future supplies for cell production. After all, recycled battery raw materials are just as efficient as new ones.