Details on the Audi 2012 Audi Q5 Hybrid have been a little sparse since it gave last year’s LA Auto Show a pass. A problem that has been somewhat remedied by presentation Audi recently gave on the Q5 Hybrid’s batter pack.

The air-cooled 1.3 kWh lithium-ion battery is made by Sanyo and has enough juice to run the hybrid on electric only power for 1.9 miles at a speed of 62 mph.

The lithium-ion battery is paired with a turbocharged four cylinder 2.0 liter direct injected gas-powered engine with 208hp. The electric engine throws down another 44hp and helps generate a combined 354 pound-feet of torque letting it accelerate to 60mph in just over seven seconds.

You can expect to see the Audi 2012 Q5 Hybrid hit North American lots before 2012 while Europeans will see it this spring.

Audi will soon begin series production of the Audi A6 hybrid, its second hybrid model after the Q5 hybrid Quattro. The Audi A6 hybrid uses an efficient parallel hybrid concept, in that its combustion engine works together with an electric motor that delivers 33 kW and 211 Nm of torque. The electric motor sits directly behind the TFSI, occupying the space of the torque converter upstream of the modified 8-speed tiptronic. The transmission sends torque to the front wheels.

The Audi A6 hybrid can achieve speeds of up to 100 km/h purely on electricity; at a constant speed of 60 km/h (37.28 mph), it has a range of 3 km. It can also operate with the combustion engine only or in hybrid mode; in the deceleration phases, it recovers power and activates both the engine and the electric motor together when accelerating quickly. Special indicators on the instrument cluster and on the MMI monitor provide of detailed display of the different driving conditions.

When you spend most of your time focused on the innovations happening in the hybrid and electric car market, it can sometimes get easy to forget about the innovations in just straight-up, good old fuel efficiency.

Well Audi just reminded us with the new release of two new TDI models that bring some pretty sweet fuel efficiency to their A4 lineup. Both cars are equipped with a 2.0-liter TDI engine. One, a sedan and the other a wagon enjoy very close to best in class fuel efficiency with 53.5 mpg and 51.1 mog respectively. Emission levels are equally impressive with 115 grams of CO2/KM for the sedan and 120grams of CO2/KM for the wagon.

Audi is sadlling the new TDI’s with the additional claim that their performance is nothing less than stellar for that level of efficiency with the sedan enjoying 136 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque making for an acceleration 0-62 in 9.5 seconds and a top speed of 134mph.

You can expect to pay around $5,000 US for a base model Audi A4 TDI sedan and about $47,300 for the wagon. Currently both cars are only available in the homeland of Germany but it’s safe to assume they’ll be coming to a dealership near you soon enough.

Volkswagen has a slick dual drivetrain system they’ve been working that Audi is looking at using in its next generation A3 model.

The TwinDrive Hybrid system uses an electric motor, with plug-in capability, to power the rear wheels and a turbocharged 1.6L 4-cylinder diesel engine to power the front wheels. The system is currently being tested in the latest VW Golf.

The TwinDrive Hybrid system, which has plug-in capability, will find a home in future Audi A3 models which will see fleet use in 2012.

Running on it’s electric motor only, the Audi A3 Hybrid will have a 31 mile range and be capable of doing 113 miles on a single gallon of diesel.

Despite Audi’s focus on diesel-powered vehicles, the Audi Q5 is back on again, resurrecting Audi’s hybrid car program. Interestingly, the Audi Q5 will be first released in the U.S. The demand for hybrid vehicles in the States has grown significantly in recent years and is currently surpassed only by Japan.

The Audi Q5 is slated for sale in the U.S. in 2010 and will compete with the likes of the Lexus RX450h and the BMW x6 hybrid.

Audi’s hesitation to produce a hybrid line comes down to cost of production of the powertrains. While a diesel powertrain costs them about 50 percent more to produce than a standard gas version, a hybrid powertrain costs them about three to four times more. A greater hybrid demand might allow Audi to build the Q5 for a more reasonable cost.