Audi E-Tron Electric Supercar is a Go
The Audi E-Tron electric sports car is a go, according to Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen. The super-futuristic electric car that debuted at the Frankfurt Auto Show was such a hit that de Nysschen thinks there will be working examples on the road within two years.
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The E-Tron gets power from four in-wheel electric motors for total power output of 313 ponies. 168 inches in length, the two-seater sits between the Audi TT roadster and R8 supercar in terms of size, though it will likely dwarf both in price. The car uses a lightweight space frame and fiber-plastic body parts to keep weight down and improve range to 154 miles out of its lithium-ion battery pack. No word on charging times, though five to eight hours seems to be the typical time to fully charge battery packs these days.
The E-Tron certainly has a lockdown on the futuristic car department, and Audi seems ready to charge full steam into the electric car market. They have several hybrids planned for the coming months, including the Q5 crossover. Expect a production version to deviate from the concept seen at Frankfurt, although that car likely won’t be too different. The designers seem to have kept one foot on the ground with the E-Tron, unlike the designer of the BMW Lovos.
Source: Autoweek | Pictures: Audi
The E-Tron design drawings look great. I dig the 313 ponies. Wonder where the torque will come in at…
Not sure what the specs are, but the big advantage of electric power is torque. An electric motor can deliver massive torque from 0 rpm and on up. Gasonline engines however don’t deliver full torque until the sweet spot in the rpm band. This thing should just fly off the line. I want!
TomP,
Check out the first link in the post for more specs. Audi claims a whopping 3,319 lb-ft of torque (!!).
Last month de Nysschen “…lumped proponents of any type of electric car into a category of “intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are.””
Nothing like finding a new profit center in your company to turn one into an intellectual elitist enlightened soul, eh?
Quicker than a souped-up ashram visit….
http://gas2.org/2009/09/03/audi-chief-calls-chevy-volt-a-car-for-idiots/
The E-Tron apparently has a 42.4 kWh capacity battery pack.
The Tesla Roadster has a 54 kWh battery pack and fully charges in less than four hours with their rapid charger (240vac, 90 amp I seem to recall).
With a 20% smaller battery it would seem that the E-Tron should charge in well under four hours. Just as some enlightened Audi engineer gets on the job….
the charging time is to long compare to distance it travel,e.g the lightning solved this problem.