goodcleantech.com— The Audi E-tron will hit 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, reach a top speed of 125 mph, last for 155 miles on a charge, and cost somewhere north of the R8's $155,100 sticker price.
Jan 1, 2010View in Crawl 4
It's early days yet guys, the manufacturers are having to introduce electric vehicles in order to meet the emissions regulations imposed by the EU commission (rules primarily coming from Brussels) If 65% of a given manufacturers car emissions are not reduced they are in for some serious penalties as follows: By 2015 if a mass manufacturer misses the 130g/km C02 target by one gram they will be charged five euros per car sold, Miss this by two grams and they pay a further q5 euros per car, a third gram will cost 25 euros and the fourth..95 EUROS! So by way of example, if Volkswagen, which sold three million cars in Europe last year, only manages to get it's fleet down to 135g/km it will be fined...705 Million euros. True story.So, as you can imagine, the introduction of these electric cars is just the early stages but most of this development is to get around these potentially huge fines in the coming years. With regard to the Audi, and Similarly the new Mercedes SLS, they are making flag ship cars to demonstrate that electric cars can seriously perform and don't have to be boring and then they filter the technology down through the rest of their ranges. Don't worry by 2015 electric cars will be very interesting indeed, as for the sound. Literally take your pick, you could have drum and bass coming out of the 'exhaust' if you so wish. Thanks
You have to consider that the Tesla Roadster has a chassis designed by the guys from Lotus, making it very light and therefore it's power to weight ratio, compared to the Audi e-tron, is much higher which is why it boasts a better range and speed etc etc. Upon saying this, the e-tron, albeit a supercar is the vehicle one would rather travel more than an hour in. The Tesla's cabin is loud from tyre and wind noise, the seats are derived from a track car in order to save weight which in turn makes them uncomfortable and - wait for this - the charge time for a Tesla car is 16 hours from empty to full. Now, I haven't got an official charge time from Audi yet but comparing this to the electric Mercedes SLS due in 2013, it has an empty to 80% charge time of only 20 minutes - you can bet your wheel nuts the e-tron follows the same charging techniques. So, all of a sudden the extra range you get from the Tesla is more than likely outweighed by the fact it has to sit over half a day charging. Don't get me wrong the Tesla is a remarkable car and clearly ahead of it's time as Audi has only just released this thing so well done Tesla and the silicon valley boys!
petmcJan 2, 2010
As long as it emits a wall behind it, I'm interested.
cbal0302Jan 2, 2010
Audi never fails to make me want everything the try. I love it. Too bad I'll never have it.
k1k1r1k1Jan 3, 2010
Well, I'm optimistic. Good argument indeed.
flyinwheeJan 4, 2010
It's not slang, it's the actual word in french for a turd.
mrwooJan 4, 2010
Good point brasolis.
ecoforecourtMay 7, 2010
It's early days yet guys, the manufacturers are having to introduce electric vehicles in order to meet the emissions regulations imposed by the EU commission (rules primarily coming from Brussels) If 65% of a given manufacturers car emissions are not reduced they are in for some serious penalties as follows: By 2015 if a mass manufacturer misses the 130g/km C02 target by one gram they will be charged five euros per car sold, Miss this by two grams and they pay a further q5 euros per car, a third gram will cost 25 euros and the fourth..95 EUROS! So by way of example, if Volkswagen, which sold three million cars in Europe last year, only manages to get it's fleet down to 135g/km it will be fined...705 Million euros. True story.So, as you can imagine, the introduction of these electric cars is just the early stages but most of this development is to get around these potentially huge fines in the coming years. With regard to the Audi, and Similarly the new Mercedes SLS, they are making flag ship cars to demonstrate that electric cars can seriously perform and don't have to be boring and then they filter the technology down through the rest of their ranges. Don't worry by 2015 electric cars will be very interesting indeed, as for the sound. Literally take your pick, you could have drum and bass coming out of the 'exhaust' if you so wish. Thanks
ecoforecourtMay 7, 2010
I concur the top speed is certainly not in supercar territory but it is limited in an effort to maximize the battery range. At least it is better than a top speed of 118mph which the 2013 electric Mercedes SLS is restricted to and this is a car DOUBLE the price of the e-tron! Come on Mercedes.<a class="user" href="http://ecoforecourt.blogspot.com/2010/05/electric-mercedes-sls-amg-on-its-way.html" rel="nofollow">http://ecoforecourt.blogspot.com/2010/05/electric- ...</a>
ecoforecourtMay 7, 2010
You have to consider that the Tesla Roadster has a chassis designed by the guys from Lotus, making it very light and therefore it's power to weight ratio, compared to the Audi e-tron, is much higher which is why it boasts a better range and speed etc etc. Upon saying this, the e-tron, albeit a supercar is the vehicle one would rather travel more than an hour in. The Tesla's cabin is loud from tyre and wind noise, the seats are derived from a track car in order to save weight which in turn makes them uncomfortable and - wait for this - the charge time for a Tesla car is 16 hours from empty to full. Now, I haven't got an official charge time from Audi yet but comparing this to the electric Mercedes SLS due in 2013, it has an empty to 80% charge time of only 20 minutes - you can bet your wheel nuts the e-tron follows the same charging techniques. So, all of a sudden the extra range you get from the Tesla is more than likely outweighed by the fact it has to sit over half a day charging. Don't get me wrong the Tesla is a remarkable car and clearly ahead of it's time as Audi has only just released this thing so well done Tesla and the silicon valley boys!