This year is a critical year for EVs in Europe, where automakers are struggling to meet more onerous CO2 regulations. So we’re keeping an eye open for electric-car introductions at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, which opens for media on March 3.
The EVs at Geneva give a sneak preview of what’s coming to European roadways. However, so far, we’re only seeing four noteworthy pure-EV introductions – including the return of the Fiat 500e and Europe’s first Chinese EV on the market.
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.
