SC Limits Preventive Detention, Overturns Telangana HC order

The Supreme Court, noting that preventive detention...

Should an arrested Chief Minister resign?

The position of the CM of NCT...

Congress-RJD seat sharing pact set to be finalised

Congress wants 10 seats, RJD wants to...

Audi launches its first fully electronic E-Tron SUV

LifestyleAudi launches its first fully electronic E-Tron SUV

Luxury giant Audi has stepped into a new Horizon. For the first time ever the German car maker has launched an electric car that too an SUV which can put many internal combustion engine cars to shame, well at least on paper. The E-Tron boasts of some very impressive figures and looks just another one of the popular SUVs from the brand. The brand with the four rings’ first fully electric series-production model has already seen the light of the day in US and Europe and may come to India too. The company says while ensuring zero local emissions— the full-size SUV is powerful, efficient, sporty and practical for everyday driving.

Looks

With the Audi E-Tron, it’s safe to say Audi has translated the brand’s fundamental design language for the electric age, both inside and out. Of course signature elements like octagonal-design Single frame grille and Matrix LED headlights are there but more fascinating are the electric charging flap and the lack of exhaust pipes. Four horizontal struts create the e-tron-specific signature in the daytime running lights. For the first time this is integrated directly into the headlights—an exclusive design feature for the all-electric drive system. The wrap-around shoulder line is an important design element in the side view. It extends from the headlights, along the flanks, to the rear lights, giving the Audi E-Tron a low visual centre of gravity. At the rear, the E-tron gets a long roof edge spoiler along with LED lamps. The wheel arch trims and sills are in a contrasting colour, to emphasise the off-road look. Overall the E-Tron gets an exclusive look despite looking like it belongs to a family.

The car gets the famed virtual cockpit by Audi, which this time comes with optional virtual exterior mirrors.

Interiors

The SUV gets the famed Audi virtual cockpit, which this time comes with the display of the optional virtual exterior mirrors. Yes you read that right. These mirrors are used for the first time in a volume-production automobile in the E-Tron. The entire driver’s area has a driver bias, and the two MMI touch response displays are angled in the driver’s direction. When off, the upper one blends almost invisibly into the large blackpanel surface. The lower display is incorporated into the broad center console. The hand rest appears to float above the console. It incorporates the shifter and the function for the electronic parking brake. Interestingly the stitching on the seats creates a motif reminiscent of electric circuit boards. The SUV also gets an optional ambient lighting package with its white LED lights softly illuminating surfaces such as doors and the instrument panel. A standard feature is the welcome sound that plays when the engine is started to signal that you have entered a luxury lounge. This is supported by a premium B&O sound system.

Engine

Two electric motors drive this electric SUV with a very impressive output of up to 400 bhp. And if that’s not impressive enough it promises to provide a range of over 400 kilometers. Despite being electric the E-Tron is predestined for long distances. Add to that a torque figure of 561 Nm and a zero to 100 km/h speed in just 6.6 seconds clearly the e-tron beats many of its IC rivals hollow. The only catch is that these asynchronous motors can deliver this peak performance for up to 60 seconds. This way, they allow the vehicle to accelerate from a standstill to the electronically limited top speed of 200 km/h (124.3 mph) several times consecutively without output losses. The start-off performance, for example at a traffic light, is comparable to that of a sports car. The maximum drive torque is present within fractions of a second and provides enormous torque. The 2 motors are placed at the front and rear the latter one giving more power. Available for eight seconds, there’s a boost mode too which can be activated by shifting from drive range D to S and fully depressing the right-hand pedal. The Audi E-tron then sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds.

Ride & Handling

In the Audi E-Tron, Audi has introduced a new quattro generation as standard: electric all-wheel drive. It continuously and fully variably regulates the ideal distribution of drive torques between the two axles—within a fraction of a second. Audi says it enables the car to achieve optimum traction in all weather conditions and on any type of surface. In most cases, the SUV mainly uses the rear electric motor in order to achieve the highest efficiency—the torque is generally distributed with a rear-axle bias. If the driver demands more power than the rear electric motor can supply, the electric all-wheel drive redistributes torque as required to the front axle. This also happens predictively even before slip occurs in icy conditions or when cornering fast, or if the car understeers or oversteers. Audi drive select also influences the standard adaptive air suspension with controlled dampers. The pneumatic springs adjust individually to the road conditions depending on the speed and the driver’s preferences, varying the ride height by as much as 76 mm from the base ground clearance of 172 mm.

Verdict

The Audi E-Tron is clearly setting new standards when it comes to electric cars in production which provide impressive performance too. It’s just too many cars rolled into one and certainly looks to be made for the future. With options of charging at home or on the move and a fast charge it comes with the practicality many electric cars lack. It’s been launched at a price of almost Euro 80,000 which makes it the flagship Audi SUV at least when it comes to pricing. And it may come to India too but its success here really depends on how fast we’re able to create an efficient charging infrastructure which right now is in a pre-nascent stage.

Shams Naqvi is an anchor/producer for the News X motor show Living Cars

 

- Advertisement -

Check out our other content

Check out other tags:

Most Popular Articles