Audi e-Tron on Sale in 2012, Limited to 1000 Units

Audi has confirmed that that Audi R8 e-Tron electric supercar will be produced and that sales begin in 2012. Pricing is said to be higher than the R8.

According to Autocar, only 1,000 units will be built for the entire world market, making the car one of Audi's limited models. All e-Trons are to be made to order and if the 1,000-run does not sell out then production will cease.

"Electric cars are usually city cars," Achim Badstubner, Audi's head of exterior design told Autocar, "but this is difficult because batteries are so expensive, limiting their competitiveness."

The Audi e-Tron was first publically unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It has a total of four electric motors on each wheel and offers a system output of 230kW (313hp) and maximum torque of 4,500Nm. The quoted 0 - 100km/h time is 4.8 seconds while top speed is 200km/h (124mph). A range of around 248km (154 mi) is expected from a full battery.

Source: autocar

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Audi says it only plans to make 1000 units of its e-tron electric sports car and that it will almost certainly be priced at "above R8" levels when it goes on sale in 2012.

"There are always people who want to be first to own new technology," Achim Badstubner, Audi's head of exterior design told Autocar.

He added that given it has 5000 dealers worldwide, Audi thought 1000 units was achievable. However, he added that Audi would make e-trons to order and would stop short if the run didn't sell out.

Audi's vision for its electric car is not dissimilar to Tesla's, whose roadster also commands junior-supercar prices. "Electric cars are usually city cars," said Badstubner, "but this is difficult because batteries are so expensive, limiting their competitiveness."

Like the Tesla Roadster, therefore, the e-tron will be a premium alternative for well-heeled early adopters.

The 313bhp sports car is powered by four electric motors, one for each wheel, and uses composite bodywork over an alumninium spaceframe chassis.

Audi believes some customers will choose an e-tron over a conventional sports car, but that many customers will choose one to make a statement instead of buying a cheaper electric car or hybrid.

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Comments (18)

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DolceRides

i dont get why it has so much torque and the 0-60 is so slow?

December 8, 2009 9:46 pm

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7 replies

loyo

0-60mph in 4.8 seconds is not slow. Besides, torque doesn't help much in 0-60mph, HP has more to do with that. Torque helps when you floor it while already traveling at speed, e.g. 80-120mph

December 8, 2009 10:22 pm

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alex_w115

Torque figure is peak torque. electric motors have high torque at low rpm but that quickly tails off, whereas combustion engines have low torque at low rpm, but more constant once revved up. As for power, don't be fooled by the numbers of the motors, it's the batteries that have to deliver.

December 8, 2009 10:26 pm

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quick123

@ loyo....You have it backwards, torque is what gets you off the line and going, horsepower is for passing and top speed....and alex w115 is on the money, the more batteries you have, the more power you get

December 9, 2009 2:41 pm

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loyo

I also used to believe that, but then when you compare cars with petrol engines vs diesel ones (talking about similar or equal displacement), petrol engines always have more HP, whereas the diesel ones usually have more torque. A petrol engined Audi is always faster in 0-60mph than its diesel counterpart, and so takes off much faster, but the diesel one overtakes it easily and also achieves its top speed much quicker.

December 9, 2009 3:26 pm

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quick123

You can't compare a diesal and a petrol engine, two completely different worlds....torque is a measurement of thrust, a force that moves an object, the higher the torque, the faster off the line....if you look at dyno specs on most engines, the torque is usually flat and the horsepower increases up to redline...hence torque for off the line and horsepower for top end.

December 9, 2009 3:48 pm

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scratchy996

quick123 is right. diesels have low end torque, the higher you rev the engine, the lower the diesel torque gets, that's why they are good at short bursts of instant power and not so good at long accelerations. but are ideal for offroad vehicles.

December 10, 2009 1:35 pm

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alex_w115

Power = Torque x rpm. compared to diesel, gasoline has lower torque, but the revving capability makes up for that

December 10, 2009 10:20 pm

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GRAVE

This looks ugly!

December 8, 2009 11:29 pm

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1 reply

ifudge

I think it's pretty ugly too. Those tea strainer wheels aren't helping. They often seem to put whack wheels on these E or Green Cars.

December 9, 2009 4:12 am

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2010S5

Pretty ugly. I'll take a proper R8.

December 9, 2009 4:59 am

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i'm glad they are limiting production on this. as with anything electric and fancy, the first gen will get so outdated as the technology advances. no doubt it will be a landmark model, but we will see performance and efficiency drastically improve over next 5-10 years as other competitors come to the playing field.

December 9, 2009 6:32 am

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awhk

Interesting to see how this thing sells and how long it will be replaced by some other technologies. Still think battery power is just a temporary solution.

December 9, 2009 8:04 am

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James2911

Its already been confirmed that the torque figure was measured at the wheels, meaning its actual (at crank) torque is no more than any other car.

December 9, 2009 12:38 pm

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1 reply

scratchy996

they measure it that way because the 4 electric motors are connected directly to the wheels. this car doesn't have a normal transmission like any other car.

December 9, 2009 1:48 pm

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Shark

Why don't they just bring us the diesel version since they have been rocking the 24 hours of LeMans with their diesels!

December 9, 2009 2:20 pm

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1 reply

scratchy996

i guess they are saving the diesel version for when they replace the R8 with the R10. the Le Mans R8 had a petrol engine.

December 9, 2009 2:34 pm

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CarFan56