Audi presents at the 2011 Australian International Motor Show: the e-tron, a high-performance sports car concept with a purely electric drive system.
Embodying Progressive Performance, the Audi e-tron is poised to become a synonym for advanced electric mobility and Audi’s commitment to an electrified future. Combining Audi’s core brand pillars of efficiency and performance with breathtaking design and next-generation technology, the Audi e-tron is the future.
Four motors – two each at the front and rear axles – drive the wheels, making the concept car a true quattro. Producing 230 kW, the two-seater accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds, and from 60 to 120 km/h in 4.1 seconds. The lithium-ion battery provides a truly useable energy content of 42.4 kilowatt hours to enable a range of approximately 248 kilometres.
The Audi e-tron first stunned the world when it was revealed at the IAA in Frankfurt in 2009 and highlighted Audi’s future-thinking in electro-mobility.
Those impressive performance figures are by no means the only evidence of the consistent and holistic strategy. The design makes it clear that the e-tron belongs in the major leagues of sports cars, and the package takes into account the specific realities of an electric vehicle. The battery is directly behind the passenger cabin for an optimal center of gravity and axle load distribution.
The e-tron is able to freely distribute the powerful torque of its four electric motors to the wheels as required. This so-called torque vectoring allows for dazzling dynamics and an incredible agility and precision when cornering.
Audi has taken a new and in some cases revolutionary approach to many of the technical modules. A heat pump is used to efficiently warm up and heat the interior. The drive system, the power electronics and the battery are controlled by an innovative thermal management system that is a crucial component for achieving the car’s range without compromising its high level of interior comfort. Networking the vehicle electronics with the surroundings, which is referred to as car-to-x communication, opens new dimensions for the optimisation of efficiency, safety and convenience.
The Concept
Electric driving offers numerous advantages. Electric cars reduce the dependence of transportation and the economy on the raw material petroleum. They produce no direct exhaust emissions and thus ease the local burden on the environment. Electric drive systems are also significantly more efficient than combustion engines, consequently making them easier on the customers’ wallets.
There is still a lot of work to do before electric cars are ready for volume production, but Audi is meeting those challenges and the e-tron forms the basis for the Audi R8 e-tron – a fully electric supercar that goes into production late in 2012.
