There has been a lot of hype surrounding the R8 e-tron . Audi was going to officially launch the model last year, but development was frozen in October. Now, despite all the difficulties, the German automaker has released the details of this electric car .
In appearance , the R8 e-tron is almost identical to the classic R8, yet both models should share only 9 body panels according to behind-the-scenes sources! The e-tron has completely unique rear lights, side panels with e-tron logos or entire parts of the body made of plastic that is reinforced with carbon fibers. These changes brought the e-tron an improvement in the drag coefficient from cx = 0.35 in the standard version to the current cx = 0.27.
Of course, changes also took place in the interior . The E-tron has a specific center panel, gear selector or leather seats. In addition to them, lightweight carbon panels were used extensively in the interior, and the model's specialty is the digital interior rear-view mirror, which displays the situation behind the vehicle.
Compared to the original assumptions, the drive of the car has also changed. Electric motors still take care of it, but against the original design there are only two today – one on each axle . Together, they develop 381 hp and 800 Nm , while they get their power from 48.6 kWh lithium-ion batteries . Despite the high weight of 1780 kg (577 kg of which is the battery), the R8 e-tron can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds. The maximum speed is limited to 200 km/h from production and the range of the model is a respectable 215 km .
The battery of a sports Audi is charged to 100% in about 12 hours . However, this time assumes the use of a 230 volt socket. However, there is also a fast charging station that can charge the batteries in less than an hour.
But despite the invested money, Audi will most likely not put the R8 e-tron into production. At least that's according to a source at the car company in the UK's Autoexpress , who asked not to be named and said: “We've built 10 cars that are being evaluated internally. However, we are surprised by the limited range of use of electric cars or their batteries in practice and we don't think customers are ready to accept these technologies.”
"However, we have a new boss, Mr. Durheimer, who is keeping an eye on these projects, plus, as technology improves, never say never," the source added. We add that the technologies developed but not used for the R8 e-tron could appear in the future, for example , in the upcoming hybrid supersport .
Source: Audi, autoexpress.co.uk
