Audi Remote Hackathon: a contest for sustainable mobility
30 hours, 25 participants, and one question: how can sustainable mobility in cities become a reality? Experts joined forces to address this topic during the first Audi Remote Hackathon – and they delivered some particularly interesting concepts.
The Audi Remote Hackathon took place over the past few weeks in a new format, with participants connected remotely. A marathon for sustainable urban mobility, the hackathon saw 25 experts give their all over 30 hours to develop and present their innovative concepts to the jury.
The winning team came up with the “10MinuteMap”, an app that shows users where they can find points of interest such as businesses, cafes or restaurants within a ten-minute radius of their location, and how they can get there as sustainably as possible. The app combines transportation with local businesses, with experiences, and with discovery. It shows just how easy sustainable mobility in the city can be.
Hackathon formula

“Agile development of good ideas at an insane pace: that’s what makes a hackathon so exciting”, explains Malte Schönfeld, Venture Development Manager at the Audi Denkwerkstatt lab. He supported the participants during the hackathon, both in terms of content and technical advice, and popped into the different sessions from time to time, offering feedback and answering questions.
The team members coalesced quickly, despite not knowing each other – the organisers mixed up the participants, assigning them to one of five interdisciplinary teams of five members each based on their skill set. “They all delivered sustainable mobility concepts that were so good that they could theoretically be implemented tomorrow”, emphasises Schönfeld.
5 teams for 5 projects
After 30 hours had passed, each team had exactly 20 minutes to present its project and convince the jury. The ideas ranged from suggestions for Audi e-tron distribution to a platform that brings together all worldwide providers of sustainable mobility.
Examples included the app “Gohalfway”, which shows friends the perfect spot to meet — and the most sustainable way to get there. Another concept deals with shared mobility fleets in which the cars are exchanged seamlessly, making searching for a parking spot unnecessary.
“The hackathon showed how we can create new ideas in an unbelievably short time when we bring together different points of views. We need to think sustainably, ecologically, economically, and socially”, adds Matthias Brendel, Head of Audi Denkwerkstatt.
The time factor
“What excited us most about the hackathon was combining an idea with a digital prototype and a business model that has social relevance, and doing that in an incredibly short time,” say Tim Hautkappe and Jonas Nietschke, two members of the team that won the Audi Remote Hackathon.
According to the winners, the climate determines our living conditions, which is why we need to rethink mobility in a sustainable way, above all in cities. That’s the only way to keep the planet healthy for the next generation.
Teamwork

“Working together as a team was a real challenge,” Hautkappe continues. “It wasn’t that easy to come together over the screen – especially since we didn’t know each other before. With video chat, everything is delayed and communication is indirect. But that made it even more satisfying when, after a few hours of discussion, our ideas have coalesced into a concrete solution, and our group had become a real team”.
The jury was won over by how easy the app makes sustainable mobility in the city, solving one of the most common conflicts: we all have too little time, but far too many options.
Sustainable decisions
“10MinuteMap” shows you options that are only 10 minutes away from you. It makes it possible for users to make decisions very quickly, supporting local businesses and encouraging sustainable mobility at the same time.
The challenge in the future will be to organise mass mobility in major cities as intelligently and sustainably as possible. That way people can use their time wisely and mobility can become an experience.
Source: AUDI AG