Audi R8 e-Tron gets green light 13 | 03 | 2014
AUDI IS TO BUILD its R8 e-Tron battery-powered supercar after all. In a dramatic u-turn, following the company's initial decision to cancel the project, the e-Tron has been given the green light after a re-engineering programme has increased the model’s range from 134 miles to 279 miles.
Significantly, the car will only be built to order.
Ulrich Hackenberg, board member for technical development, explained at Audi's annual press conference that he had “had a close look” at the original concept since joining Audi last July.
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As a result of the work he and his team had undertaken, allied to “progress in battery technology”, they had managed to dramatically increase the range of the supercar.
That, combined with a new way of packaging the batteries that was “far more space efficient”, means the e-Tron's range has increased from 134 miles to 279 miles.
No timescale has been given for the first production R8 e-Tron to appear, but he did emphasise the model will continue to be used as a development test bed.
Future versions of the R8 e-Tron are likely to benefit also from drive-by-wire technology.
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Jim McGill