joebird

Audi Will Introduce 48-Volt Electrical Systems - HybridCars.com

Audi To Upgrade Its Vehicle Electrical Systems To 48 Volts

keithl

Didn't Ford and others attempt this a few years back? They gave up since the electronics in cars got more thrifty and all the issues converting everything to 48V

joebird

There was some 42V talk a few years back:

Whatever Happened to the 42-Volt Car? - Popular Mechanics

DasA6

Leave it to Audi, nonetheless the Germans.

Advisor

The 48V battery is not covered by the 100,000 mile warranty legally mandated by most states in the USA. Out of warranty replacement runs over $2700 plus labor. And replacement of the 12V battery requires dealer installation because car needs reprogramming, a $500 expense. The “mild hybrid” is an added expense of thousands of dollars, not well advertised.

Maric

Takes up quite a bit of space as well...

Here's my "Trunk" as you guys would say.

KevinGary

$2700 plus labor? That may interfere with me keeping the car for my usual 140k miles.

Edit

Does anyone know what's th added power at the low RPM from the mild hybrid?
This is not advertised at all. Bmw is saying 11HP and Mercedes 23HP in the latest generation(I think 14HP previously).

Can anyone add some info?
What is added for the 12V system(the one I have) and for the 48V for the Audi?

John Simcox

Audi do not use the mild hybrid system to actually augment the performance of the car, instead they use it to power ancillaries when the engine is shut down. This video explains it https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/...id-system-4125 Not sure about BMW and MB, but from what I read elsewhere the definition of a mild hybrid is one where the hybrid part does not provide drive the wheels (ie there is no drive specific electric motor). It may that BMW and MB have provided some arbitrary calculation of the power saved by the inclusion of mild hybrid technology

Advisor

The “mild hybrid” 48V battery is used to make the “stop/start” activity unnoticeable by the driver. The “stop/start” feature improves mpg a paltry 10% maximum and helps avoid mileage restrictions by governments, and that is a major reason for manufacturers using it. Personally, I think the added cost of the 12V and 48V battery replacements pushed onto owners far outweighs any such mpg advantage. In some vehicles the “mild hybrid” also is used to mitigate turbo lag and/or make dct gear shifts smoother, which does add to driving pleasure. Again, personally, I think the whole “mild hybrid” idea is a poor excuse for manufacturers to push expense onto owners instead of going full hybrid and avoiding the whole set of mild hybrid stop-gap issues.