Watch Audi's In-House Chop Shop Recycle Old Cars For New Model Parts

Aug. 27, 2023 6:11 AM ET byMartin Aguilar Video /Comments

Old vehicles aren't just meant to go straight to the scrapyard.

End-of-line or old Audi models have a new purpose via a recycling process that involves extracting certain parts that can be used in its current manufacturing process,a similar approach to what BMW is doing.

Audi is implementing this practice as part of its commitment to making its production process more sustainable to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

Recycling old Audi models starts with removing all the interior components, including airbags, seats, instrument clusters, and dashboards. The idea is to strip down the old car so that its chassis can be compressed and recycled as aluminum sheets. As such, the chassis of the old Audi serves as a vital component in producing a new vehicle.

The process is called Aluminum Closed Loop, which Audi has implemented at its Neckarsulm facility since 2017. Audi then reuses the reprocessed aluminum sheets in its production process of new cars. The video above gives us a tour of how it's done.

The windshields and windows of old Audi vehicles are also being recycled. The car windows are first broken up into small pieces while the non-glass impurities like metal and glue are eliminated. The shattered glass is melted to becomenew plate glassused for a new car window, with Audi previously saying it wants to utilize recycled plate glass in theQ4 e-tron.

Audi also examines several examples of old materials to determine how they performed during the vehicle's lifetime.

The plant tour video also shows the designing and manufacturing process of new Audi vehicles. Audi uses a clay model in conceptualizing new design concepts for its vehicles. The German car brand also uses computer software to optimize the vehicle's shape to be aerodynamic - similar to what Toyota does through agenerative AI tool.

The video also shows Audi's production process at its Neckarsulm manufacturing facility. Like other modern assembly lines, Audi employs robots and automated guided vehicles to make the production process more efficient and streamlined.