Audi have introduced an idea that really is the sign of things to come – your car will help you find the cheapest petrol station for refuelling.
Audi A3 connect fuel screen
Audi Connect – Audi A3 and A3 Sportback Lead the Way
The Audi A3 and A3 Sportback will be the first of many Audi models to offer an in-car display of local fuel stations and their prices via Audi connect
Audi prides itself on striving to build cars that are fuel-efficient so this is a natural progression for the carmaker to offer drivers a new online feature that helps them save money on fuel.
The new Fuel Prices service becomes available this month, initially for the Audi A3 and A3 Sportback models, as part of an enhanced version of the ‘Mobile Phone Preparation – High with Audi connect’ option.
This further developed option will gradually be rolled out to the majority of models during 2013 – the Audi TT and R8 will adopt it at a later date.
The system consults an online database to list the cheapest filling stations in real time at the Audi A3’s location, at the driver’s destination or at another location.
The Audi A3 driver can sort the overview list by price or by distance, and once a filling station has been selected one click is all that is required to set the selected filling station as a navigation destination.
The Fuel Prices feature is just one of several useful and informative components of the enhanced Audi connect option, which must also be combined with the hard disk-based Satellite Navigation Plus. The two optional items are available in the Audi A3 as part of the cost-effective Technology Pack High, costing £1,795.
What is Audi Connect?
Audi connect is the collective term for all the technologies that connect the driver to the car, the Internet and the infrastructure.
In its updated form this advanced interface not only delivers the new fuel prices function alongside more familiar services such as Google Maps, Google Street View, Audi traffic information online and Audi music stream, but also ‘Picturebook Navigation’, access to social media services such as Facebook and Twitter, the latest news, flight and train information and even a ‘what’s on’ guide in specific towns and cities.
The Audi A3 is an impressive car and this blog has mentioned with increasing frequency that carmakers are putting more interactive technology into their vehicles because this is what buyers, particularly younger ones, are looking for.
However, I’m not quite so sure and think that drivers should be focused on the road ahead and not be distracted looking for tunes or to Tweet.