Audi H-tron Quattro Concept – a hydrogen-powered Audi with true zero emissions

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The Audi H-tron Quattro Concept has been revealed at the Detroit Motor Show as a hydrogen-powered take on Audi’s forthcoming Q6 Crossover.

At last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi rolled out the e-tron Quattro concept, previewing a future all-electric Q6 to take aim at the Tesla Model X, with 4WD and 496bhp. And now we get its sibling – the Audi h-tron Quattro Concept.

This ‘tron’ concept is powered by hydrogen rather than batteries (although batteries do come in to the equation), and Audi declare it to be completely emissions free.

Unlike most hydrogen fuel – which is made from methane – the hydrogen powering the h-Tron concept is produced by Audi’s own e-gas facility which uses wind power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis, meaning no CO2 emissions from ‘well to wheel’.

As for the h-Tron concept itself, it’s closely related to the e-Tron Quattro Concept we saw at Frankfurt, but the h-Tron gets a hydrogen fuel cell stack under the bonnet, hydrogen fuel tanks under the floor, a 121bhp electric motor at the front and 188bhp one at the back and an auxiliary 100kW battery pack for extra juice when needed.

Audi has also fitted a big solar array on the roof, which they reckon is good for enough electric generation to give an additional couple of miles a day of range (but not in Manchester).

Audi say the h-tron has a range of up to 373 miles – with a re-fuel possible in just four minutes – and can scoot to 62mph in 7.2 seconds.

Inside, the h-tron previews a stylised take on Audi’s future cabin design, complete with lots of tech like OLED screens and autonomous driving capability.

The h-Tron Concept is just that – a concept – but with Toyota, Hyundai and others already delivering hydrogen-powered cars to the market, Audi won’t be far behind with a production version using a similar set-up to the h-tron.