Many new vehicles that leave the Audi plants in Germany are delivered with R33 fuel—a blend comprising one-third renewable components. Audi plants’ filling stations transitioned to R33 Blue Diesel (earlier post) last year; Audi has now introduced the gasoline counterpart, R33 Blue Gasoline. R33 Blue Gasoline (earlier post) now replaces conventional E10 gasoline.

R33 Blue Gasoline and R33 Blue Diesel consist of one-third renewable components, based exclusively on residual and waste materials. The renewable portion of the gasoline consists of 10% fuel oxygenates—e.g., ethanol—and 23% bionaphtha, which is obtained from residual materials such as tall oil, which is a by-product of pulp production.

R33 Blue Diesel consists of 26% renewable paraffinic fuel—i.e., HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil)—and 7% biodiesel. The remaining 67% is made up of fossil fuel.

R33 Blue fuels reduce CO₂ emissions by at least 20% compared with fossil diesel and gasoline in the well-to-wheel analysis, and the figure is rising. By financing certified environmental projects, fuel producers do more to improve the environmental impact of the remaining fossil components in R33 fuels. The aim is to further reduce the global greenhouse gas effect and the use of such fuels is a step towards Audi’s goal of carbon neutrality at its production sites by 2025.

R33 Blue Gasoline fully complies with the applicable standard for gasoline, DIN EN 228, which means that any vehicle approved to run on Super 95 E10 gasoline can use it. R33 Blue Diesel fulfills the most prevalent standard today, EN 590, and is therefore certified for all diesel vehicles—even older ones.

R33 fuels are premium fuels that have a positive effect on wear and service life through special additives. Both fuels have achieved consistently positive results in extensive engine and vehicle tests—they even exceed the EN 228/E10 standard in key parameters, such as storage stability and boiling behavior. The high-quality additives also ensure these renewable fuels are very clean and prevent engine corrosion.

The R33 fuels were developed in cooperation with Shell and Bosch.

R33 Blue Diesel is available at existing public filling stations today. However, Super E10 and diesel fuel with up to 7% biodiesel content (indicated by the symbol B7 at filling stations) are still the norm in Germany. There are also plans to use R33 Blue Gasoline in the existing filling station network. At the EDI Ö-Center, Blue Gasoline will sell for a premium (€1.859/l) (US$7.05/gallon US) over Super (€1.709) and Super E10 (€1.649).

The use of reFuels does not require any hardware adjustments to filling stations.