With 33 models worldwide whose average CO2 emissions are below the 140g/km, Audi have earned the leading position among the premium car manufacturers and – thanks to the Vorsprung durch Technik philosophy – the company has plans to reduce fleet CO2 emissions by another 20% by 2012.

Proof of that, is the newly launched Audi A3 1.6 TDI which was already the “greenest” car in the premium sector. An accolade Audi have managed to crack by reaching the 100g/km mark a long with CO2 emissions of only 99g/km associated with an impressive fuel consumption of 74.3mpg.

But Audi’s environmental concern goes beyond its vehicles and optimised assembly lines. Audi has taken a literal approach to the proverbial “green shoots of recovery” and is funding the reforestation of the Kösching Forest, destroyed in 2007 by dark beetles and heavy storms.

The Korsching Forest is located near Audi Headquarters in Ingolstadt where Audi is funding the planting of 36,000 oak trees that will cover a total six hectares which will be the basis of the “Oak Forest CO2 Reservoir”. The initiative is a partnership between Audi, the Bavarian State Forestry and the Chair of Forest Yield Science at the Technical University of Munich.

Reforesting the Korsching Forest is just the tip of the iceberg of Audi’s environmental commitment as plans are underway for additional sites at international locations such as Audi’s production site in Gyor, Hungary, where 13,000 Pedunculate Oaks will be planted covering an area of 4 hectares.

The newly sown forest is a particularly tangible indicator of the Audi’s commitment to sustainability and environmental protection, but it is just one example of the numerous measures the prestige car manufacturer is implementing to conserve resources in both the cars themselves and in their production.

Progress through technology has not only been Audi’s ad strapline but has also been the company’ working philosophy since its creation back in 1909. Since then, Audi has contributed to a number of milestones for the auto industry.

Over the past decade, Audi has revolutionised the auto industry with a number of technological advancements that prove performance and efficiency can be combined without sacrificing one or the other.

When Audi’s engineers develop a new technology, they have only one thing in mind: increase vehicle efficiency without sacrificing performance – hence Audi Space Frame and the ultra-precise S-tronic transmission.

ASF (Audi Space Frame) is an innovative way to build a vehicle’s body with a lightweight high-strength aluminium frame that gives a car outstanding safety, excellent performance and phenomenal efficiency, while the S-tronic transmission – with its shorter gear changes increase fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions – combines the agility and responsiveness of a manual gearbox with the convenience of an Automatic.

With the TDI engines, Audi simply redefined the diesel engine; with its unique common rail system for more efficiency and power delivering better performance along with a 15% reduction in fuel consumption while the TFSI engines where the first to combine petrol direct injection and turbocharging to provide greater power with reduced fuel consumption.

On the new TDIe engines, the ‘e’ stands for efficient. These engines are without a doubt the most efficient diesel engines in the world and it’s already on the roads running models such as the Audi A6 2.0 TDIe and the Audi A4 2.0 TDIe (with remarkable CO2 emissions of only 139g/km, resulting in an annual road tax of just £120 and a competitive 18% company car tax rating).

Audi is cleaning up the premium sector with its highly efficient models. The new Audi A3 1.6 TDI has the lowest CO2 emissions in its class with just 109g/km. For Audi, good efficiency means low emissions and low emissions means cheaper road tax, making the A3 range one of the best choices for a company car. Add that to the Audi contract hire and leasing options you can potentially save thousands of pound each year.

One of Audi’s most innovative and economy focused technologies is the Recuperation Technology, which recycles the energy used to brake to lighten the engine’s load reducing fuel consumption by up to 3%. Already making the difference in models like the new Audi A8 and the next gen of Audi A3s.

As you can see, Audi follow the “Vorsprung Durch Technik” strapline from the design to the quality inspection process each vehicle goes through. Such attention to detail coupled with a genuine environmental concern has earned Audi a series of awards over the years. The most recent high-profile accolade going to the Audi A3, which has been named 2009 Green Car of the Year by the Green Car Journal. Another massive award coming from What Car? Magazine, who have given the title of “Most efficient luxury car” to the A8 2.8 FSI.

Now its time for you to have your say about Audi highly efficient models, if you had to choose which Audi model would you crown the most Highly Efficient of them all?

The Audi A3 TDI earned the prestigious title of 2010 Green Car of the Year. The announcement was made yesterday morning during the L.A Auto Show as Ron Rogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and editor of Greencar.com presented the award to Audi of America President, Johan de Nysschen.

Since 2005 the Green Car Journal has been awarding manufacturers who are working hard towards developing vehicles with an environmental concern. This year the Audi A3 TDI emerged victorious among five other finalists.

The trailblazing TDI 2.0 engine powering the A3 delivers 140hp with an impressive 236 lb-ft of torque, yet achieves a remarkable 50 mpg (42 mpg US) fuel efficiency, lowest in its segment. That means the Audi A3 TDI achieves 50% better fuel economy than a comparable gasoline engine.

“We consider the Green Car of the Year® title one of the most important industry accolades. It is of paramount importance for us to develop vehicles that achieve the very touchstones this award stands for: fuel efficiency and environmental impact. Rather than novelty features, we consider these attributes imperative to the future of automobile design. We are honoured with this recognition for the Audi A3 TDI.” said Johan de Nysschen, President Audi of America.

The Audi A3 TDI was not the only model to take an accolade back to Ingolstadt, the Audi A5 was named 2010’s Best Resale Value Award luxury car winner by Kelley Blue Book’s (www.kbb.com) and was honoured in two categories: Top 10 Model overall and Best Luxury Car. Not only did the Audi Q7 take home the Earth, Wind & Power(SM) environmental award, it was only named Most Environmentally Progressive Truck of the Year.

“Audi’s Efficiency Challenge A to B” will cover exact 4,182Km through Europe in 9 days, from A on the Lofoten archipelago in Norway to Bée on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.

To prove that efficiency is a standard in every Audi, the company is not only putting to test its optimised fuel efficient models but also the top sporty models of each line, in total Audi has lined up five model series for this Efficiency Challenge.

The Efficiency challenge will also mark the day view for the ultra-efficient Audi A3 1.6 TDI with CO2 emissions of only 99g/Km who will be joined by other models including the more sportive S3 Sportback.

Other models taking part on “Audi’s Efficiency Challenge A to B” are the Audi A4 TDI e, the 333hp Audi S4, Audi A5 Sportback 2.0 TFSI, the Audi A5 Sportback 3.2 FSI. Representing the Audi Q7 family will be the Audi Q7 3.0 TDI clean diesel quattro and the more powerful Audi Q7 6.0 TDI quattro.

The TT range is also taking part on the Challenge with models like the Audi TT 2.0 TDI quattro and the top of the range Audi TT RS.

This Efficiency Challenge will also serve to highlight even further the effectiveness of Audi’s modular efficiency platform which brings together a broad portfolio of highly effective technologies.

The tour which already started the past Tuesday September 22nd has been broken down into three stages, each consisting of several days. The first runs from Å to Trondheim in southern Norway; the second to the German capital city of Berlin; and the third ends at the final destination on Wednesday September 30 at the town of Bée overlooking Lake Maggiore. The tour includes a wide range of roads and landscapes, taking participants along the coastal roads on the Lofoten islands and across Germany’s autobahns. The route encompasses impressive cities such as Oslo, Copenhagen and Prague as well as the towering mountains of the Alps.

We want to hear from you now. Which Audi model do you think will have the best fuel efficiency?

Leave your opinion in our comments section and make sure you don’t miss our follow up article with the challenge figures.

Audi has started a campaign to raise the public awareness for its TDI clean diesel engines and is planning to expand it all over the world, in America Audi has committed to support The Nature Conservancy a voluntary carbon offset program that counterbalances carbon emissions by reforesting private lands to capture and store carbon, Audi will donate 1 US Dollar for every Facebook user who joins the cause at www.causes.com/natureconservancy.

Audi is always investing in innovations to reduce its engines CO2 emissions and without a doubt, one the biggest innovations so far was the introduction of the Audi Q7 TDI clean diesel, but Audi commitment with the environment doesn’t stop there, Audi want to promote reduced CO2 emission by supporting organizations and by spreading the word about the benefits of reduced emissions.

We could expect to see a similar campaign from Audi here in the UK, meanwhile it is worth reminding our readers that a wide range of Audi TDI models emit less than 200g/Km which means you won’t have to pay 3% company car tax penalty levied on diesel engines.

A perfect example of this are the newly developed 1.6 TDI engines for the Audi A3 with outputs of 90hp and 105p, these new engines combine performance and fuel efficiency with low CO2 emissions.

With a fuel consumption of 68.8 mpg the Audi A3 equipped with the 105hp 1.6 TDI engine sprints from 0-62mph in impressive 11.4 seconds and reaches a top speed of 121mph while maintaining CO2 emissions at only  175 g/mile (109 g/km).

Meanwhile, the smaller engine with 90hp also proves to have great fuel efficiency and good performance with its high torque of 230 Nm. This engine allows the Audi A3 to sprint from 0.62mph in 12.9 seconds and reach a top speed of 112mph and CO2 emissions of 190 g/mile (118g/km).

Audi combines a series of factors to achieve these impressive numbers, first we have Audi’s start/stop technology, extremely effective for city driving, as soon as the vehicle comes to a stop, the shift lever is in neutral, and once the driver removes their foot from the clutch pedal, the system turns the engine off. The engine then turns back on as soon as the clutch pedal is depressed.

But fuel saving starts before the A3 stops at the traffic light, with Audi’s energy recovery system the alternator converts kinetic energy to usable energy during a vehicle’s coasting and braking phases before temporarily storing it in the battery. This stored energy is then used in electrical components when driving off or accelerating reducing the load on the alternator saving of to 3% fuel.

Audi E1- The E1 electric car is the smallest clean Audi and is based on Volkswagen’s NSF family. That’s essentially the sub-Polo mini car based on the VW Up concept, which will also be badged as a Seat and Skoda.

Audi E2 – Audi’s eco sports care will be the iteration of the VW BlueSport concept car – and it’ll be a mid-engined sports car aimed at the Mazda MX-5 family. Clean aero, light weight and a string of stingy powerplants will ensure the E2 is a clean, green sports car.

Audi E3 – Audi are relaunching the A2, renamed as E3. It will again use aluminium-intensive construction and be based on the cost-efficient MQB matrix due for the 2011 A3 hatch.

Audi E4 – There’s a new name and a second chance for the Audi Roadjet concept which quietly disappeared after its debut at the 2006 Detroit auto show.

Audi E5 – By 2014, Audi plans another green sports car. This should come as good news for enthusiasts worried about the future of fast cars.

VT Training is one of the country’s biggest vocational training organisations. They have introduced a company car scheme that is reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, by encouraging employees to use company cars with low co2 emissions rather than using their own cars for company business.

Nationally, there are an estimated 4milion private cars used for work; the so-called grey fleets. And with The new Corporate Manslaughter Act, makes it more likely that directors will be prosecuted if their employees have serious accidents whilst driving unsafe vehicles Making sure the wide range of private vehicles are safe could be a time consuming and costly business.

Audi have a low emissions version of the Audi A3 which matches the co2 emissions 119g/km of the cars used by VT Training. There is also a tax benefit for employees taking a car in this band – with the next band up adding an additional £10 month to the benefit in kind.

The new Audi A3 TDI three-door hatchback has been available since August, and from October the five-door Audi A3 Sportback is available on contract hire at £292*a month.

Fortitude (an Audi news site) commented in their Paris round up:

“Foregoing fitting the ultra-efficient engine into a swoopy and far-from-production concept car, Audi went with their top-selling Audi A4. The result looks just like a car you can buy today, but nets a hair shy of 60 mpg (USA Gallons). You might miss seeing it, but it’s hard to miss the significance of this new engine tech”

A number of innovative energy saving and carbon reduction technologies where used to hit these impressive fuel and co2 figures

The Audi 2.0 TDI engine also features a comprehensive list of efficiency tweaks. The oil cooler, the oil nozzles for cooling the piston crowns, the oil pump and the water pump have been designed so that they can be switched off – when inactive they do not require any power.

A new design of piston rings resulted in lower tangential forces, the spring pressure on the intake valves was reduced slightly, and the vacuum pump for the brake booster received a new actuator. These measures as a whole reduced emissions by 5 grams of CO2/km.

This Audi A4 uses a thermostatically controlled cooling circuit with an internal heat exchanger for the automatic air conditioning system – this system uses 20 percent less fuel than its predecessor. The A4 TDI concept e uses a new controller: the engine disconnects the air conditioning system’s compressor from its drive whenever possible.

The Audi transmission is coupled to a start-stop system that switches the engine off whenever the car comes to a standstill. The engine is deactivated whenever the Audi A4 TDI concept e comes to a standstill,  It starts up again as soon as the driver steps on the clutch.

Audi Aerodynamics

The A4 TDI concept e has had changes to its aero package to improve its fuel efficiency A new boot lid with a restrained separating edge improves the already excellent aerodynamics. The partially closed grid in the single-frame grille and improved underbody fairings ; also contribute to the excellent drag coefficient of 0.25 for the model (the production model Audi A4 is 0.27).

Audi Energy recovery

The A4 TDIe concept uses a energy recovery system that converts the energy generated during deceleration into usable electrical energy. In the deceleration and braking phases the A4 TDI stores energy  temporality in a glass mat battery, which is a robust battery with a long life. Whenever the car accelerates again, the battery feeds the energy back in – this is similar in concept to the systems that Formula 1 cars will be using from next year.

With the credit crunch all businesses are looking to reduce the cost of their company car fleets, this ‘e’ version of the Audi A4 shows that Audi’s engineers are always looking to improve the efficiency of Audi cars with sacrificing the performance and style Audi is known for.

Audi plans to expand its ‘e’ model line in the near future and start putting further technologies from its modular efficiency assembly into production.