At last September's Paris Motor Show, we were thrilled to see this very concept car, the Audi e-tron Spyder. This second electric car, a hardtop, two electric motors Carried pushing the rear wheels (versus the four motors of the R8 e-tron's all-wheel drive, an ongoing challenge programming Referred to as e-within the Audi Quattro).
While torque at the wheels in these e-hybrid cases can be a delicate science, Audi's head of showcar / prototype development Uwe Haller Tells Autoblog That the torque from the two electric motors from 0 rpm is really around 260 pound-feet versus anything like the theoretical 1.950 lb-ft at the 12.000-plus rpm spindle advertised for the e-tron coupe. n the end, the 3.200-pound e-tron Spyder Could dash to 60 mph in approximately 4.2 seconds.
We should think of the e-tron Spyder as a rolling lab That awaits the VW Group's internal part approval and part public approval. Just as with the R8, this smaller sports car family will have at least one version with a fixed roof and one with a convertible top. No one anywhere is Confirming this, but the e-tron Spyder's "one-off" aluminum chassis is, According to Various sources, Audi's shot at contributing a chassis to the future R4 (or R5) / Porsche Boxster and Cayman / VW Blue Sport small roadster sports car program. Anyone over five feet, nine inches tall in the Spyder is Likely to have Their brain cavity sliced clean away in a big head-on collision. As for the Spyder's plug-in diesel-electric power-train, it's a pure experiment at this time.
The show car seats and steering wheel set the tone, and an adapted plug-in hybrid version of Audi's MMI control interface is the predominant graphic on the small screen. The only bit stolen from a current production car is the e-tron's steering rack and front axle, nicked from the subcompact A1. While the 20-inch wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport tires made for a rather large turning circle, the reactions while we were cuffing along as fast as we could go were actually pretty nimble compared to any prototype we've ever driven.
We'll need to wait for the real deal until around late 2013, but Audi's Quattro differential-free future is looking ever more plausible. Though the diesel fuel tank carries just 13.2 gallons, the e-tron Spyder has an on-paper range of over 600 miles per fill-up thanks to its lithium-ion-fueled parallel help.
Among the models are foreseen the coupe, convertible, as well as a speedster-style minimalist cloth top model. There is also talk of having a less pricey 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder trim and Perhaps a 1.8-liter TFSI base trim for North America.
