During an interview at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi of America President Scott Keogh confirmed that the company doesn’t plan to make the e-tron quattro a “compliance car”, but instead he sees a global market for the all-electric SUV.
“Our number one thing is not to build a compliance car but to build a cool, desirable car, because that’s what’s going to help our brand and our customers are going to like it,” Keogh said. Expand Expanding Close
Last month we showed you drawings of Audi’s new all-electric SUV concept and yesterday we published more advanced renderings, but today the company finally unveiled the vehicle at the Frankfurt Motor Show and we get some pictures.
Last month we reported on Audi planning to unveil the quattro, a new SUV-crossover equipped with Audi’s all-electric e-tron drivetrain, at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which runs from the 17th to 27th of September. Today the company released more advanced renderings of the concept ahead of the media launch expected tomorrow. Expand Expanding Close
Audi issued a press release today to announce that it will unveil the all-electric e-tron quatro concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show next month (IAA 2015 will run from September 17 to 27, 2015). Audi released some new information about the concept, which they expect to go on sale in 2018.
The company also released several new drawings of the quattro – see below. Expand Expanding Close
Audi just announced some of its eTron R8 specs and detail nuts like me will note some pretty impressive numbers starting at the huge 92kWh battery that has 7kWh more storage than Tesla’s top end option. Tesla has said on numerous occasions that it *could* build a bigger more dense battery in the same space (perhaps as a later upgrade), but hasn’t because of cost constraints.
Also the e-Tron has a Drag coefficient of .28 — .04 higher than the Model S. It should be noted that the e-Tron is a theoretical sports car and the Model S is a 7 seat family sedan that has been on the road for almost 3 years. But Audi clearly is keeping a lot of the petrol edition’s drag-inducing air intakes for the electric edition.
That takes a toll on range with the Audi sports car tallying just under 280 mile range compared to the Model S 85D range of 285 miles. The e-Tron’s speed is also a bit behind Tesla with a reported 3.9 second 0-62 and top speed of 130. That’s almost a full second behind the P85D and 20 mph slower. Torque is also impressive, but still far behind Tesla.
On the other hand it looks like a sports car inside and out which will certainly appeal to some folks.
But for Tesla, this is a win. Audi’s just announced R8 doesn’t beat Tesla’s 3 year old Model S in any relevant space with speed or range and holds 5 fewer passengers.
