Intel Report: Mapping the Electric Future of Audi

[George@Fourtitude]

Thanks in large part to multiple successes at Le Mans with its TDI racecars, Audi has established itself as a leader in modern diesel technology. Proving it is no one-trick pony in pioneering gasoline alternatives, the German marque has now laid out a clear-cut “road map” toward electrification according to Michael Dick, Audi’s board member in charge of development, We sat down recently for a chat with the Audi executive at the Geneva Auto Show and have since chased down a few more facts, adding even more detail to that map.

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[ajayjuneja]

This is why I love the Germans.

Damn the cost, do it right!

I love Tesla and Fisker too

Nothing better than whizzing around quickly in an electric car!

[Issam Abed]

THIS is the future!
I wonder if they will return the wankel motor and make it a hybrid.

[xgfsblkjettas]

Ferdinand Porsche's first car was electric, with independent motors for all four wheels on the vehicle.

[bzcat]

I'm still disappointed that Q5 TDI or A4 TDI will not make it to the US. I keep waving my deposit check in their face but they keep ignoring me

So Q5 Hybrid will probably use 2.0T... that's fine and all but I still think 3.0 TDI is a better choice for this car. Possibility of A8 3.0 TDI in the US is also interesting... but that car is too big for me.

One curious omission in the plan... no Q7 hybrid? Seems kind of odd that Porsche and VW are getting it but not Audi.

Would A3 e-tron and A3 hybrid in next generation model spell doom for A3 TDI in the US?

[rickthompson]

Hybrid and other green technologies are becoming all the rage. Audi is presently in the midst of rolling out its line of electric/hybrid technology, which it calls e-Tron. The first e-Tron cars are set to debut in the near future. According to Inside Line, Audi has fitted one of its prototype race cars, the R18, with e-Tron technology. The R-18 e-Tron quattro uses two electric motors to drive the front wheels and a 3.7-liter, 503 horsepower turbodiesel V-6 to drive the rear wheels, along with KERS technology to capture electricity from braking. Since both front and rear axles are being driven, it thus has four-wheel-drive, a must for any respectable Audi. Article source: Big push coming for Audi e-Tron line.