By Nick Chambers •
September 15, 2009
Yesterday we brought you news of the impending debut of Audi’s e-tron concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Today Audi released more details on the the eco-luxe electric car, and it’s a monster. The car has four electric motors which, together, produce an impressive 313 HP coupled with a jaw-dropping 3,319.03 lb-ft of torque (!!).
To give you an idea of how much torque that is: the not-yet-released, 6.7-liter, turbocharged, 400 HP, Ford Power Stroke Diesel truck engine only produces a wimpy (by comparison) 725 lb-ft. And the “world’s strongest truck” (according to Volvo) — the 700 HP Volvo FH16 semi — produces merely 2,323 lb-ft of torque. The Audi e-tron produces a full thousand more lb-ft of torque than the “world’s strongest” semi truck.
By Andrew Williams •
September 14, 2009
Exciting new pictures of a hotly anticipated Audi electric car concept have been leaked, a week before the ‘official’ unveiling at the Frankfurt Motorshow.
The car will apparently be called the ‘e-Tron,’ and as you can see from the pictures, will take a lot of its design cues from the R8, but with a different front grille, LED headlights, wheels and rear end. Inside, the cabin is also quite different, featuring a driver-biased center console with two screens; one for the rear view camera and one showing a navigation map (see picture gallery after the jump).
By Nick Chambers •
September 3, 2009
It’s an Audi-tastic day! Johan de Nysschen, President of Audi US, certainly took some major heat over the interwebs today for his inflammatory and derogatory statements that the Chevy Volt is a “car for idiots” and that electric cars are only for intellectual elites to “make a statement.” They were especially curious comments because they came at the same time that Audi launched a website touting the power of electricity.
So, knowing how these things usually go, after some serious damage control conference calls between the Audi communications folks and higher level management, de Nysschen was probably forced to respond with a much more diplomatic take on his positions — what he should have done in the first place. It’s so hard to backpedal once you’ve said something as concrete as “you’re an idiot if you buy this car.”
By Nick Chambers •
September 3, 2009
Just ahead of the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show, Audi is sending out *extremely* mixed signals on how involved it’s going to get in the development and production of electric cars. In the wake of the proclamation by Audi US President, Johan de Nysschen, that the Chevy Volt “is for idiots” and that electric cars are a mistake in general, Audi has just released a barrage of videos teasing about the power of electricity and hinting that they will be developing an electric car.
So which one is it Audi? Are you for or against EVs? Or is it that you just want to appear to be for EVs so that you can tame the “elite intellectual” crowd that you so heavily rely upon, while secretly being against? Perhaps a bit of nefarious greenwashing?
