Audi EV

[ManuVince]

Having just seen two e-tron quattro R18 race cars beat the competition at the world's greatest endurance race - including against two otherwise identical lightweight diesels, which made for a good controlled experiment - I predict Audi will now firmly get behind e-tron road cars. They have always flowed down technology from their racers (quattro, TFSI, high performance diesels, magnetic dampers, etc).

+1
I have no doubt Audi will do it right eventually, but it's just too bad it is taking them so long...

[Adm]

The R8 e-tron has set a world record for a production vehicle with an electric drive system on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Racing driver Markus Winkelhock piloted the high-performance, all-electric-drive sports car around the demanding 20.8-kilometer (12.92-mile) track in 8:09.099 minutes. With this Audi has achieved yet another milestone in its history, following overall wins at the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Le Mans.
“The R8 e-tron has given a magnificent demonstration of its potential on the toughest race track in the world,” said Michael Dick, AUDI AG Board Member for Technical Development. Dick, who completed a fast lap himself in the R8 e-tron, added: “The record-setting drive confirmed that we are on the right track. To us, electric mobility has never been about sacrifice, but rather is about emotion, sportiness and driving pleasure.”

http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/...record-at.html

[JRP3]

Longer Ring video:

[JRP3]

E-tron ride along video at the Ring:

[dpeilow]

New version of the e-tron PHEV

Audi A1 e-tron Dual Mode – Nouvelle version hybride rechargeable à l’essai

[dwegmull]

An Audi A3 E-tron test vehicle showed up at our local event part of National Plugin Day:

I never got a chance to talk with the driver, so all the information I have is from this:

[Grendal]

ABG article on the e-tron A3:

Audi A3 E-Tron

[Robert.Boston]

OK, this is clever; Tesla could steal this idea to good effect:

On traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, a quick tug on the left paddle shifts the transmission down one gear while the right is used for shifting the gearbox up. However, nearly all battery-electric vehicles (BEV) have but a single-speed transmission. Paddle shifters are completely unnecessary. The engineers at Audi, likely not wanting to leave gaping holes on the back of the trick sporty steering wheel, gave the two plastic flaps a new role – to control the intensiveness of regenerative braking.

[vfx]

OK, this is clever; Tesla could steal this idea to good effect:

BMW is serious about regen too. I hope Tesla wakes up on this for mountain / city driving.

[PRJIM]

OK, this is clever; Tesla could steal this idea to good effect:

The Fisker Karma has this feature.

Learn about Hill Mode on the 2012 Fisker Karma - YouTube