Audi EV

[shark2k]

YouTube - Audi E-Tron Electric Supercar TEST DRIVE

This is the link from the more info: 2012 Audi E-tron TEST DRIVE | Electric Vehicle News

I found this line interesting:

According to the media test drivers the concept e-tron was unable to keep up with the Dodge Challenger Highway Patrol cars escorting it so we're guessing the demo vehicle was quite a bit short of the 3,319 ft/lb claimed in press releases

I wonder how the performance of the car really is. Also that is torque output at the wheels instead of the motor shaft.

-Shark2k

 

[JRP3]

Yes it's at the wheels, not the shaft. Frankly that's so obvious I can't believe journalists keep using that figure.

 

[dpeilow]

FOLLOW-UP: Audi says electric e-tron puts out 501.5 lb-ft - Autoblog Green

It got the attention of the petrolheads though, didn't it?


VIDEO: Dan Neil drives the Audi eTron, tells Musk and Fisker to watch out - Autoblog Green

 

[dpeilow]

Audi E-tron, an AW Flash Drive

What's it like to drive?

The Audi guys kept dropping snide remarks about the Tesla, the E-tron's likely biggest competitor.

"We have a TT and an R8, both of them are sports cars," one engineer said. "Which one's the real one?"

"Big toys for big boys," swiped another.

Yet when we got behind the wheel, the E-tron was just a pretty concept car, with concept-car limitations. Top speed had been dialed back to 60 mph. The two miles of Pacific Coast Highway we had to drive on were barely curving, yet while there was little perceptible lean, the car still felt heavy. The target for the production car is 3,300 pounds, but this concept weighed "more than that." Having just driven the Tesla Roadster Sport two weeks before, we'd have to say the production Tesla clearly outperforms the concept E-tron. The Ariel Atom-based Wrightspeed electric car outperforms them both. The AC Propulsion Tzero flies. Heck, almost any EV that is not limited like this E-tron was could give you more of a thrill.

 

[vfx]

I wonder how the performance of the car really is. Also that is torque output at the wheels instead of the motor shaft.

-Shark2k

It may go slow but it could tow oktoberfest up the Autobahn.

 

[dpeilow]

Audi e-tron: Turn on, plug in, flat out - Racer.com

 

[Cobos]

Is it just me or is 150km range, 4 something to 62mph and price above R8 price not close to the Roadster. The Roadster gives you a significantly longer range, much faster 0-62 times for less money. In the class of 2 seat sports cars how can that be similar?

Is it something I'm not getting or is this writer just wrong??

Cobos

 

[dpeilow]

It's 150 miles - but still far short of the Roadster. But if you think it's not like a Roadster, then I'd hardly say it's like the Model S...

Audi's Sexy e-tron Could Be a Tesla Model S Competitor, But Not Now | BNET Auto Blog | BNET

 

[AnOutsider]

def not a roadster (or model s) competitor. But didn't they say 4ish seconds 0-60? IIRC, the Roadster and Roadster sport were 3.9 and 3.7, so it's not a HUGE difference.

 

[TEG]

Audi’s Electric Car Gets Even Hotter | Autopia | Wired.com

(I like what they are doing!)

 

[Tim]

Audi’s Electric Car Gets Even Hotter | Autopia | Wired.com

(I like what they are doing!)

Except the ridiculous specs they first quoted are starting to come back to earth. Now back to 150Kw total with two motors and 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. Must have had trouble with the flux capacitor much like Fisker, Chrysler Envi and Lightning Car Co to name just a few.

 

[dpeilow]

So it seems like the mags that were saying this would evolve into an electric "R4" were spot on. I wonder what that means for pricing now - they can hardly price way above the ICE R8 with these specs. It looks like an attempt to get costs down and compete with Tesla head on.

I'd even go further and say I wonder if this is just a grandiose plan to divert attention and orders away from the Roadster to stifle Tesla, as Audi fears competition from the Model S with the like likes of the A5/S5 four door?

 

[dpeilow]

By the way, Auto Express implies this car will be in addition to, not instead of, the first e-tron.

Audi's baby R8 revealed | Auto Express News | News | Auto Express

Positioned below Audi’s R8 and below the £100,000 e-tron supercar, drivers could expect a price tag of around £50,000.

 

[Cobos]

I see your point dpeilow, but wouldn't that demand a faster time to market to really affect Tesla? Currently they are talking about 2012 which should be the time the Model S is actually out.

Though this new concept looks really nice and remarkably realistic, so with those specs pricing it at $75 000 they will definately be a worry for Tesla's Roadster sales. Though this might eat into both the TTs and the R8 sales as well from both sides so this might not be all good for Audi from a sales perspective.

Cobos

 

[dpeilow]

I see your point dpeilow, but wouldn't that demand a faster time to market to really affect Tesla? Currently they are talking about 2012 which should be the time the Model S is actually out.

I don't think the product has to exist - just the open waiting list might be enough to divert people who otherwise would have had to stretch to get the Roadster or perhaps would feel more comfortable waiting to buy from a large manufacturer.

Also there may be another group of people who want the Roadster but can't afford it and settled for a saloon/sedan in the form of Model S instead. Now they can afford a sports car again - slower though it is - so the cash goes away from Tesla.

I think Audi have been canny to identify this market and I hope Tesla responds to it.


By the way, here's more evidence that both will be produced: Audi E-Tron Detroit Concept - Auto Shows - Car and Driver

Note: This e-tron concept is not the same R8-like electric car we’ve recently driven and which Audi has already said it will produce in limited quantities. What we have here is a baby e-tron—call it Son of e-tron—that Audi chose to give the same name as its bigger brother because the company hopes to make e-tron a sub-brand like Quattro or S-line.

...

Audi remains predictably tight-lipped on the subject of building this baby e-tron—its larger brother has already been approved for production—but we certainly hope it sees a green light. The company says it is gauging interest and reactions to determine this e-tron’s fate, but we can tell you that, based on the reaction when this concept was unveiled, it’s going to hear a lot of positive things.

I do think they should drop this e-tron brand now though - it doesn't even sound that good in English.


I have to admit, it does look good.

 

[mpt]

Top Gear's comment: Audi E-Tron - Revenge of the E-Tron - 2010 - BBC Top Gear

Far more importantly, we reckon it's a handsome thing. If the future's electric, we're happy if it looks like this. Anyone agree?

 

[dpeilow]

You know we've turned the corner when the naysayers in the comments slate a car like this for not being innovative enough...

 

[vfx]

Franz at Tesla said he wished the Model S could have been a two door. He must be steaming.

Tesla could also counter this by upping the timeline on showing us other Models S platform concept vehicles.

 

[Cobos]

Yes considering they already have their skateboard technology a logical counter would be getting Franz to make those SUVs, Coupes and whatever to get more attention. Still, with the Model S so far out they've still got time, and Tesla now got a ig enough name they can probably get the attention they need when it's time to sell teh Model S.

Cobos

 

[Tim]

You know we've turned the corner when the naysayers in the comments slate a car like this for not being innovative enough...

I agree. Still, I worry that the large automotive companies really don't want electric cars to succeed and their current efforts are really more comic foils to showcase electric car limitations rather than honestly pushing the envelope and trying to make viable EVs that can succeed on their own merits. I firmly believe that if Tesla was not in the marketplace driving me-too "innovation" from these guys that they would produce nothing more than a showroom prototype with limited range and specs and be happy to say, "see I told you it wasn't practical. Maybe in another twenty years." I worry that Tesla's success is being drowned out by all of these so-called competitors.