Audi has approved many of its models' six-cylinder diesel engines for use with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as part of the firm’s transition to becoming net climate neutral by 2050.
Since mid-February, selected new Audi models with V6 TDI engines up to and including the firm's range-topping 282bhp unit can be driven on HVO. The models include the Audi A4, Audi A5, Audi A6, Audi A7, Audi A8 and the Q7 and Audi Q8 SUVs.
The Audi Q5 will also gain an HVO-compliant V6 diesel engine at the start of March. It will be followed by the A6 Allroad in the summer, although this model is no longer on sale in the UK. Each HVO-compatible Audi car can be identified by an XTL sticker (for 'X to liquid') on the fuel filler cap. Audi's four-cylinder diesels are already HVO compliant.
Audi claims running one of its vehicles on HVO can reduce CO2 emissions output by 70-95% compared with diesel produced from fossil fuels.
