Audi's new R8 will also be available with an electric drive.
- The E-Tron caused quite a sensation at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Now Audi seems determine to catch up lost ground with the EV craze by introducing an electric R8.
The gist is you can be late to the electric vehicle, EV game, as Audi is but still catch up with a vengeance. Derived from the R4, itself derived from the E-Tron, the R8 will be a smaller brother coupe, according to AutoExpress.
Rivaling Tesla Motors Roadster. Audi is finally understanding the pressure the little start up Tesla Motors is applying with its electric Roadster. The Roadster has become the poster child of a new demand for clean propulsion, despite the budding new technology. And the company official who booed electric vehicle, EV not so long ago, Audi of America’s president Johan de Nysschen is now confirming the R8 will make it to showrooms. The EV version will sit at the top of the line-up made up mostly of internal combustion engine, ICE cars.
Technically Speaking. The R8 will use the E-Tron platform with a 470kg lithium-ion battery pack placed in the middle will feed 4 electric motors, two on each axle. The electric motors are rated at 300hp, with 4,500Nm of torque, good for 0-60mph in 4.8 seconds. The top speed should be limited between 124mph to 140mph with a range of about 155 miles. The EV should weigh around 1,500kg, or about 3,300Lbs.
All in all, a serious turn around for a company that senses time have changed and is willing to regain the time it has lost in an intelligent way. While it would be financially difficult to bring the R8 in EV version only, Audi adopts a smart way of offering with ICE and EV technology. Bravo.
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