When it was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi announced that their E-tron concept developed a total of 4,500 newton meters of torque, this roughly equates to 3,319 lb-ft when converted from SI to the English system of units. At the time the number seemed a bit suspect, however knowing the awesome grunt provided by an electric motor with its instantaneous torque generated at Zero RPM, we figured why not, after all vorsprung durch technik. Not to mention that the E-Tron being one of one in the world, it would have been very difficult for anyone to confirm or deny these numbers with their own independent testing.

Thanks to a group of scrupulous journalists at Edmund's Green Car Advisor, they noticed something a bit strange with the way that Audi's marketing team was presenting their latest concept's torque figures. It turns out that 3,319 lb-ft is the measurement at the wheels, and while this is usually a preferable method of measuring output, this figure leaves out the reduction caused by gearing and embellishes a bit on the E-Tron's potential. Instead Audi's electric concept make a more realistic 501.5 lb-ft of twist, a number which is still impressive, but no where near the numbers that were originally announced.

When asked to comment this mistake, Audi engineers announced they have revealed the “at the wheel” torque numbers, that is clearly multiplied by the gears. And they did that to "describe the E-tron’s grunt because it is more reflective of how electric motors deliver their power." As long as Audi is more forthcoming with the production version, we here at Top Speed say more power to them.

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