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2011 Audi Urban E-Tron Concept
 
A few days ago, a mysterious Audi prototype was spotted in Berlin decked in camouflage, leading to the proverbial question as to what kind of car it was. Fortunately, the mystery didn’t last long. The German automaker has released the first details of its new Urban E-Tron Concept that will be gracing us with its presence at the coming Frankfurt Motor Show. It took a while for Audi to release all the information of the Urban E-Tron Concept, but thankfully, did so just in time for the opening of Frankfurt, complete with all the performance numbers that might not tickle the fancies of those looking for some speed to go with the cool city car concept. UPDATE 11/02/2011: We thought the Audi Urban E-Tron Concept was a huge waste of time because there was no chance Audi would ever actually put it into production. Turns out, we were absolutely wrong. Audi has just announced that the Urban Concept will indeed go into production and that it will be limited to only 999 units. Sales will begin in 2013 at a starting price of £8,800 or about $14,000 at the current exchange rates. Check out more details on the Audi Urban E-Tron Concept after the jump. Full story 2013 Audi R8 E-Tron
After the E-tron concept and the E-tron Detroit Show car, Audi has brought us the e-tron technology platform based on the R8 from the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. This has turned out to be more than just a publicity stunt or science experiment. Audi is serious about bringing this car to market and has taken the time to develop a completely new ideology behind this electric R8 and the normal gasoline version. Having the exterior design of the car already completed and in supercar form it was an easier job for the Audi engineers to develop an electric version than if they would have had to start from scratch. The mid-engine design of the R8 provides the perfect location to store heavy batteries without distorting the weight balance that Audi wanted to achieve. In essence, this electric version should be able to compete on the same levels as its V8 and V10 brothers, but will it be as exhilarating? That all depends on what the driver sees as excitement – The V10 version will provide an unbridled amount of power and harmonious soundtrack to go along with it, but the electric version will incorporate some of the most innovative technology available today. Being able to reach high top speeds in the least amount of time is the most important thing that a sports car can deliver, if it can do it by using batteries than we don’t really see a problem. If Audi can truly create an exciting Quattro experience with its new E-Tron R8 than they will have accomplished something truly special in this emerging market. UPDATE 09/12/2011: Audi is trying to keep the market’s interest on their new R8 E-Tron by bringing a near-production model to the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. They are calling it the "technology demonstrator" and showing off its four electric motors and a new exterior design. This pre-production model features a new grille, new carbon fiber front and rear bumpers, new rims, LED lights, and, as the most impressive addition, a highly ventilated hood. Hit the jump for more details on the Audi R8 E-Tron. Full story 2011 Audi Urban Spyder Concept
You have to excuse us for doing a little double-take on Audi’s new Frankfurt-bound Urban Spyder Concept. We actually thought that this was the same concept as the Urban E-Tron Concept that we introduced a few days ago. As it turns out, they’re two completely different models. Who knew, right? The overall look of the car is completely similar to that of the Urban E-Tron Concept, including stand-out features like the free-standing 21” wheels and the surrounding plates that incorporate those strips of LED lights. However, where the E-Tron has a sliding roof and doors, the Spyder Concept doesn’t have a roof at all and instead features a low, continuous window area with its doors opening upwards diagonally. As for the interior, well, we don’t see anything different either. Both models carry a 1+1 seating configuration with each of the seats being made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) to provide supreme sturdiness in a lightweight set-up. Finally, the Urban Spyder Concept also runs on two E-Tron electric motors that provides the power for the car and combined with a lithium-ion battery pack that supplies the energy. That’s about as much as we’ve been told for now. But rest assured, we’ll share more details as soon as they become available. 2011 Audi E-tron A3
Audi has taken their E-tron concept a step forward with the unveiling of the E-tron A3 concept - a compact car featuring a powerful electric motor and a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery. Although the concept looks almost identical to the production A3, there are a few elements that will help distinguish it. The concept has received a revised instrument cluster, leather Alcantara seats, a heated windshield, and an optimized air conditioning system. The most important difference between the two concepts can be found in the powertrain. As a hybrid concept, Audi decided to use a different engine than the one found in the A3 Sedan Concept. Instead of the 2.5-liter turbocharged engine of the A3 concept, the E-tron version has a slightly less powerful 1.4-liter TFSI turbocharged gas engine that doesn’t come close to the output the former has. Of course, being a hybrid concept, performance takes a back seat to fuel efficiency and that’s where the E-tron A3 Concept has the upper hand over the gasoline-powered A3 Concept. Details on the Audi E-tron A3 after the jump. Full story Top Speed’s Top 10 Hybrid/Electric Sports and Super Cars
Gas prices have been soaring nationwide for sometime now. As of March 2011, the national gas price average is $3.56 and rising. For many enthusiasts that may sound like the death knell for the cars they know and love. We can hear it now, “No more supercharged V8s, no more twin turbocharged V6s. Goodbye Mustangs, goodbye Corvettes.” It really sounds like a bleak outlook for enthusiasts who live, breathe, and eat these cars (not literally, of course). Luckily, that doesn’t have to be our future. As many of you are already aware, many companies are making great strides to preserve performance cars for all of us. They’re using new technologies to not only make sports and super cars faster, but they’re using those same technologies to make them more fuel efficient, giving us hope that there will be no end to the fast cars that we love. That’s where we come in. We have come up with our list of the Top 10 Hybrid Sports and Super Cars that all utilize new technologies to make them faster, more fun, and more fuel-efficient. All of these cars are either on sale now, will be in the future, or will have their technologies transferred into production cars within the next few years. Hit the jump to check out are list of top ten hybrid sports and super cars. Full story The process of building the Audi e-Tron Spyder
When the Audi E-Tron Spyder Concept was first introduced at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, a lot of people – us included – we’re enamored by the car’s simplistic yet completely sexy design. Nevermind that it was a concept vehicle because whatever category it was, the car was oozing with awesomeness. But as you’ll hear people say all the time, the finished product isn’t as interesting as the process that it took to get there. Short of saying, it’s a lot more interesting to learn how a car like the E-Tron Spyder was born as opposed to drooling over the finished product. For their part, Audi released the story behind the conception and development of the concept vehicle, shedding light into a part of the entire process in building a car that the public isn’t all that aware of. In the case of the E-Tron Spyder Concept, Audi held a contest to determine who was going to get a chance to design the concept car. After two weeks of design involving 17 people split into four teams, Audi went with two designers and tasked them to build a full-scale model of their creations using brown industrial plasticine that was stretched and built over and around a steel frame with wood and rigid foam. Audi’s Board of Management eventually decided on the winning design and began building the car using a heavy dose of carbon fiber that required Audi employees to build each of the car’s body parts from a block of rigid foam before applying sheets of carbon fiber fabric. After that, it was a case of hardening up each part, cleaning it, and priming it for the build. There’s a whole lot more behind the entire development and build-up of the Audi E-Tron Spyder Concept that we feel would be best described by the people from Audi themselves. So hit the jump to see how the Audi E-Tron Spyder Concept turned from a competition design to a concept vehicle that wowed the auto industry at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Press Release after the jump. Full story
Audi e-tron caught testing
Shortly after the official unveiling of the E-tron supercar at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi announced that it would be put into production in a limited 1000 units. The first prototypes that were caught testing is proof to that statement. The E-tron will compete with the electric version of the Mercedes SLS AMG which Mercedes is currently working on. The prototype caught testing has no air intakes and the traditional front and side air intakes of the V8 and V10 R8s have also been removed. The E-tron concept is powered by a purely electric drive system made up of four motors – two at the front and two more at the rear axle. The total output of this electric drive system is 313 HP and 3,319.03 lb-ft of torque, meaning that the car can sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.8 seconds and from 60 to 120 km/h (37.28 – 74.56 mph) in 4.1 seconds. If anyone is interested, as we assume some people might be, then you better start putting away some dough. Audi has said that the E-Tron should be in showrooms by the end of 2012 and will be more expensive than the Audi R8 which starts at about $114,200. Audi Space brings A1 and E-Tron to Playstation Home
Audi is taking full advantage of the growing wave of interactive marketing by putting their new premium hatchback, the 2011 A1, into the virtual world of Playstation Home. Now, if you’re expecting a whole lot from this showroom, then you’re going to be disappointed to know that it doesn’t have any other feature other than being just a simple showroom. But the good news is that Audi is planning on releasing some sort of A1 game in the coming months to go along with more information regarding the E-Tron. That’s something that we can all look forward to. This “A1 showroom” is Audi’s second attempt in integrating their brand to an interactive audience after the release of their E-Tron Vertical Run racing game, which has been played by over 700,000 players since it was released late last year. Press Release after the jump Full story 2010 Audi E-Tron Detroit Showcar
We first saw Audi’s R8 inspired E-Tron electric super car at the 2009 Frankfurt show, and the German automaker is making is following the move up with the E-Tron Detroit show car at the 2010 North American International Auto Show. Looking a bit more mundane, the Detroit car takes the old double bubble design and makes it more of an upright reality, looking more like a cross between a BMW 1 Series and a Nissan GT-R, this concept is a step closer to reality from Audi. Designed around the new Audi Space Frame structural technology and built from a combination of lightweight materials like aluminum and carbon fiber composites to not only make the skeleton but also the skin of the Detroit E-Tron that is dominated by their signature super car grill as well as a pair of large vertical air intakes and a matrix LEDs to make up the headlights just like the R8. Meanwhile the interior is all new, oriented toward the driver the centerpiece is a large built in central display with Audi’s integrated Multi Media Interface. The new E-Tron will tip the scales at only 2,976.24 pounds making the electric concept exceptionally light on its feet. Powered by two electric motors with a combined output of 204 HP and 1954.54 lb-ft of torque, according to Audi. The difference between Frankfurt and Detroit is that the E-Tron now has a sort of Quattro all wheel drive train that is able to distribute the motors’ torque from wheel to wheel as required. Aside from further improving handling, this allows the Detroit E-Tron to sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in only 5.9 seconds and reach a top speed limited to 155 MPH. Press release after the jump. Full story | featured reviews:Audi E-tron latest reviews:
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