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Audi proved its commitment to the cause with a second e-tron concept car at the Detroit Motor Show which goes a long way down the road from its first battery-powered effort at Frankfurt '09.
Unlike the original e-tron, which was really just a speedy plug-in R8 with bright red bodywork, the Motown car has a unique chassis, body shape and power pack which could be a lot closer to production. It's just a pity about the sensible silver paint so popular with German carmakers ...
Audi has gone overboard with the name of the newcomer, insisting it is called 'the Detroit showcar Audi e-tron', but the name is a fair price to pay for a car that moves ahead on so many fronts. For a start, as you can see in any picture, the Detroit-e is not just an R8. It is still built up from the supercar's alloy spaceframe chassis, but the proportions are very different and the final car is more compact.
The numbers confirm the commitment, with everything from a 250- kilometre range to a 200km/h top speed and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 5.9 seconds. Audi also claims an overnight home charge time of 11 hours, falling to just two with a 400-volt hookup.
The design of the Detroit-e keeps the R-car look but the end result is a whole 22cm shorter than the R8, with the other numbers also down including a weight of 1350 kilograms. It helps that the 399kg battery pack, and the two electric motors that drive the rear- engined sporty, are mounted behind the cabin.
The electric stuff in the Detroit-e is impressive, but Audi has been working on a lot of other new systems including an industrial-style heat pump instead of aircon, totally adaptive LED lights, a breakthrough regenerative braking system, and even a new dashboard layout with a large central dial ahead of the driver.
The bodywork is also new and improved, using carbon fibre-reinforced composite plastics for all the hang-on panels including the doors, and the desire to cut weight even includes racing bucket seats in an orange-trimmed cabin. Audi says the mechanical package for the Detroit-e is built around a pair of asynchronous electric motors with a total output of 150kW.
They have their own cooling system, including active air vents which only open when a cooling flow is needed. The battery pack is lithium-ion with a capacity of 45kW/hrs. The sports car theme of the car is reflected in a 40:60 weight distribution, rear-wheel drive with vectored power and 19-inch alloy wheels.
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