Pushing forward with its newly minted e-tron platform, Audi is planning on introducing a slew of new hybrids and electric vehicles over the next several years. This development is especially interesting in light of the fact that last year, Audi’s US chief, Johan DeNysschen, called electric cars playthings for the elite and said that anyone who buys a Volt is an “idiot.”
Having introduced the Audi e-tron concept supercar last year in Frankfurt, Audi has decided to make the e-tron name stick: “Just as “quattro” has become a synonym for all-wheel drive, so “e-tron” is to be the Audi brand name for electric mobility,” said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG.
The next model to get the e-tron treatment is Audi’s new compact car, the A1. The A1 e-tron concept will officially be unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show. It is an extended range electric car, much like the upcoming Chevy Volt; The car’s wheels are propelled by electric motors with power coming from the battery pack. But when the batteries run out of juice a small combustion engine kicks on to recharge them. In the case of the A1 e-tron, the battery pack can take the car about 31 miles before needing supplemental energy. The range extender is a single rotor Wankel-type engine paired with a generator that can take the car an additional 124 miles.
Audi claims that, based on the draft European standards for measuring fuel efficiency in such cars, the A1 e-tron would be rated as having about 124 mpg US with scant emissions of 45 g/km.
So, if this car ever gets produced do you think DeNysschen will call its owners idiots? Open mouth, insert foot.
Read the full press release on page 2, including more info about Audi’s upcoming hybrid plans.
Source: Audi
PDF Pages: 1 2
About time the luxury makes started pumping out hybrids.
About time the luxury makes started pumping out hybrids.