Audi Australia is pumped for the NVES

Unlike a lot of brands in Australia right now, Audi is actively looking forward to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) coming into effect on July 1, declaring it a major catalyst in setting up the next 10 years’ worth of product.

Speaking to carsales at the national media launch of the all-new Q4 e-tron, Audi Australia product boss Matthew Dale said NVES would help the brand simplify its portfolio on a powertrain technology front and act as a catalyst for the local introduction of said technology.

“I think NVES really helps us there, where we can bring out new technologies directly from Europe,” he said.

“Getting Australia, as a market, really up there on list of priorities when it comes to the latest technologies … will only benefit the consumer.

“We welcome the incentives, are we scared of them? No, we’re actually really excited to bring that technology.

“It’s a really exciting time to be in the industry.”

The biggest innovation on the horizon beyond the impending arrival of several new-generation EVs is the global release of what Audi calls ‘Mild Hybrid Plus’ (MHEV Plus), which blurs the once clear line between mild and full hybrid powertrains.

In a nutshell, MHEV Plus is still a 48-volt system as per other mild hybrids but can power the vehicle all on its own for short distances at up to 10km/h rather than just contribute an extra couple of kilowatts during hard acceleration or smooth-out the stop-start procedure.

Marking the system apart from a full-fledged hybrid system however is the fact the ‘powertrain generator’ (primary motor) is only active up to 140km/h, at which point it disengages from the transmission entirely – a full hybrid’s motor is always on-call and provides zero-emission propulsion well above 10km/h.

The tech made its debut on the new-generation Audi Q5 SUV and A5 passenger car – both underpinned by the latest Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture – and has already been confirmed for Australia.

“That’s a new technology that NVES has helped us get a lot sooner because we’ve got those targets,” Dale said.

“We’ve [also] got plug-in hybrid technology … Q5 is actually number two in the premium market in terms of plug-in hybrid … and that shows that the Australian consumer, or the market, has an appetite for plug-in hybrids.

“So we’ll see more of that technology coming across multiple segments, multiple new cars as well.”

Audi Australia managing director Jeff Mannering added that while the brand was previously fully committed to an electric future at a global level, these new hybrid technologies would pay dividends in keeping Audi ahead of the curve in terms of the NVES credits and penalties, even as EV demand continues to cool.

“It’s just a balancing act – it’s what we talk about every day,” he said.

“You need to be in a position where if one of the segments within the segment becomes a bit softer, then you don’t have to give up volume.”

The NVES technically came into effect on January 1 but won’t start issuing credits and penalties until the start of the new fiscal year.

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