Extreme measures: testing our cars under the toughest conditions

An Audi has to be able to cope with all kinds of challenges. ?To make sure it can handle the frosty cold as well as the dusty dessert heat and strong winds, ?a series of tough tests are performed.?

It’s one of the highlights of my work: In the north of Sweden, near the polar circle, Audi is regularly performing winter tests under harsh conditions. On snow and ice, our prototypes show what they are capable of.?

Testing new vehicles out in nature is important, and also a pretty memorable experience. But of course, we cannot rely solely on natural weather conditions for all our tests. Therefore, Audi’s climatic wind tunnel can simulate a wide range of reproducible winter and summer conditions at any time, irrespective of the location, weather, and season. Each Audi model spends around 500 hours in the climatic wind tunnel and other climatic test chambers during development.

Audi engineers use them to conduct various tests while working on different areas of the vehicle. These include the HVAC system (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) as well as drivetrain components.??

To this end, different speed and temperature curves as well as load scenarios are simulated on a number of test benches using various resistance settings, in line with the specifications defined by the relevant Audi departments.??

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Defrosting at minus 18°C?

Minus 18 degrees Celsius (-0.4°F), a layer of ice covers the windshield. The Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron awaits its test in the conditioning box of Audi’s climatic wind tunnel. To ice up the electric vehicle’s windows, water has been sprayed onto the windscreen in advance.??

Because of the freezing cold it now forms the layer of ice required by testing regulations. One of our team members sits in the Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron and activates the “Defrost High” setting, which directs the air conditioning system’s maximum fan speed at the windshield. After a short time, the first holes appear in the ice on the windshield.??

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The windshield defrosting test is a requirement for approval in Europe and elsewhere. The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/535 states that a vehicle, whether it has a combustion engine or is electric, must have cleared a minimum field of vision on the windshield within a set period of time. Under reproducible conditions, the windshield defrosting test simulates a vehicle parked outside during winter in sub-zero temperatures. All cars must meet the test’s windshield defrosting requirements, including electric vehicles like the Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron and Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron.?

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Turning up the heat?

For yet another extreme test, Audi’s climatic wind tunnel is heated to 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) while the vehicle travels a simulated 60 kilometers (37 miles) at top speed.??

This doesn’t reflect the everyday use of an electric vehicle, of course, but the Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron is tested to see how it can cope with the toughest conditions – just like any other Audi.?

And not just on test drives around the world, but also on test benches in Audi’s climatic wind tunnel, which can simulate winds of up to 300 km/h (approx. 186 miles per hour).?

The result? Whatever you experience on the road – your Audi will be prepared.?