2010 Detroit: Latest Audi E-Tron could be R4 roadster
By John LeBlanc DETROIT - Does Audi's E-Tron concept looks familiar? Maybe because the Detroit show car is a silver-painted, shorter-wheelbase version of its red painted sibling that arrived first at last year's Frankfurt show. The German automaker must be thinking that, if upstarts like Tesla can get ridiculous money for a sports car EV, then why not a more established brand? This less powerful, rear-drive baby E-Tron should be less than the more than US $150,000 Audi is expected to charge for the full-length, all-wheel-drive original expected to on sale in a couple of years. Like the gas-only production R8 two-seater it shares an aluminum space frame with, the E-Tron is mid-engined. Sort of. Lithium-ion batteries are behind the passenger compartment and ahead of the rear axle. Instead of the original Frankfurt version's four-at-each-corner e-motor layout, the Detroit E-Tron has two electric motors mounted on the rear axle, putting out out a total of 204 hp. Not much, eh? But, again, like the original, the purely-electric E-Tron is all about the torque. As in a diesel locomotive-like 1,954.54 lb-ft. Weighing about 225 kg less than the longer original E-Tron, Audi says the silver version should do naught to 100 km/h in under six seconds and an operating range of "up to" 250 km until the batteries run dry. Of course, where you would plug-in the E-Tron at that point is another another story... [Source: Audi]