Not only did Audi win Le Mans in convincing fashion, the four rings showed off a prototype of the Audi R8 e-tron electric sports car at the race. Racing legend Frank Biela took the e-tron out for a spin in the Le Mans vers le futur demo event for EVs. The previous time Audi had an e-tron on show was at Detroit, with the tech wrapped in a TT-sized body.
The R8 e-tron is powered by four motors connected to a wheel each for quattro grip. Combined, they provide 313 hp and 4500 Nm of torque (no it’s no a typo), propelling the two-seater from 0-100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds. 70% of power goes to the rear wheels while the rest goes to the fronts. The battery sits behind the passenger cabin for a 42:58 weight distribution.
Torque vectoring from the four motors mean that understeer and oversteer can be corrected by not only targeted activation of the brakes, but also by precise increases in power by few milliseconds. The R8 e-tron is claimed to remain extremely neutral even under great lateral acceleration, “hustling through corners as if on the proverbial rails” according to Audi.
The car’s lithium-ion battery can be charged from a household plug socket (230 volts/16 amperes), taking six to eight hours to be refilled. Kinetic energy from the brakes is recuperated, channelled to the alternator and converted into electrical energy. It all sounds good, but when is Ingolstadt finally putting an e-tron into production?
Gallery after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1201]
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Nice car…seem Honda is losing out..
Honda does not have a comparable electric car, by far.
what’s wrong with just reading if you have nothing intelligent to say?
All they got is hybrids, CR-Z due in 2011 and Civic Type R is lined up to be hybrid-ised.
The front of the R8 looks like one of god’s creations.
This Audi is packed with huge loads of torque-4500 Nm of torque but I am expecting its acceleration from 0-100km/h under 4 seconds.
A special “Le Mans” class for prototype electric cars would be interesting.
But only if a battery change is NOT allowed and the charging time is taken into account too… ;)
thumbs up on green technology!
can i know the electric motor power(in KW) on this monster…and the battery capacity in kW/h??
Electric motor power: 4 x 58 kW (232 kW)
Battery capacity: 53 kWh (only 42,4 kWh can be used to extend battery life)
Source: http://www.worldcarfans.com/110060926721/audi-r8-e-tron-production-version-begins-testing
nice rims
While you said that 4500Nm isn’t a typo, you should have said ‘no it’s NOT a typo’, not ‘no it’s no a typo’.
4500Nm still pwned those supercars with the lowest gear.
wow how come the torque is much higher than the hp? nway u are right Mr someone…hehe shud be its not a typo..:)
electric motors have high torque right from 0 rpm :)
4500Nm…?……WTF…?……..that’s huge man…..
drive with butterflies in the stomach.. haha
“53 kWh lithium-ion battery and four electric motors that produce 78 hp (58 kW / 79 PS) and 830 lb-ft (1124 Nm) of torque each. While multiplying four by 830 lb-ft (1124 Nm) results in an insane 3,320 lb-ft (4496 Nm) of torque, the figure will be more like 502 lb-ft (680 Nm) in real world driving.”
4500Nm of torque…..sure could snap the driver’s neck if not careful….
2 questions: 1)How far can u go with fully charged up? 2)Which is cheaper compare to pumping petrol travel the same distance?
electric?..not for me..huhu..in the next 30years we will miss the sound of v8..v12..mechanical sound..beautiful high revving sound engine..huhu..ha..i remember this car should have artificial v10 sound..
I rather have that old stone ages combustion engine gone for good…in a year
and I won’t miss them that much..
i think saudi arabia’s oil run out next 1-2years and v8 and v10 could be at museum several decades from now..haha..
The car’s lithium-ion battery can be charged from a household plug socket..what if someone forget to charge it?..remember nowadays..many people forget to charge their cell phone..hehe
and how many people don’t realize the fuel gauge light is lightin up and do not go for refueling (or recharging in this case) their car at all…please think before typing
i don’t quite understand electric cars. it has so much torque and i keep reading about how the torque curve is flat from 0rpm all the way to whatever theoretical maximum rpm it has. so why isn’t the acceleration faster? like 0-100 in 3 seconds perhaps? isn’t bhp just a function of torque at a particular rpm? bhp = (torque * rpm) / 5252?? based on this formula, peak bhp is developed at 365rpm?!?! help?
also, how is the redline determined for such a vehicle? i believe in a petrol engine, it is for safety limits before you blow the engine (i can imagine parts spinning faster and faster with increasing friction). is it the same with an electric motor? too much friction and it burns? spin too fast and slight manufacturing defects in weight balance cause it to wobble and break at a high speed?
I think it is the same like comparing remote control cars – nitro(engine) vs. motor(electric)
I like to think the 4.5k N.m is a max torque..I don’t think the figure is true in real driving
so… how much can it actually go on a single charge?
No figure on how far you can go on one charge?
A single charge will yield 248km of travelling distance, under normal driving conditions. Not bad, actually very practical. The real question is long will the batteries last, and what is the cost of replacing the batteries? Obviously as technologies improve, things will get better. I foresee a future of EVs in our cities and highways. And these EVs will come equipped with ‘boomboxes’ mimmicking internal combustion engines (your choice of Porsches, Ferrari etc) to warn you.
EV is currently overated. Where do you get the electricity from. It still come from oil mainly. Hydro is being bashed that it cause damage to the enviroment and nature. Nuclear are being control exclusively. Wind is not available everywhere. The sun tech is far from efficient and the current cost is monumental.
yes, but at least there are many different ways to get electricity vs petrol.
If the global trend of 30% annual growth in usage of renewable energy continues, I guess EV could be the next viable option unless there’s a breakthrough in hydrogen/fuel cell tech.
Wind energy now accounts for about 19% of consumption in Denmark, and there’s actually an island in Denmark that’s surviving fully on wind power. If this trend continues, Europe could be fully on renewable energy by 2050.
Agreed but, I and most of us will not live to see it.
Hahahahaha…. the report only mentions Europe. Malaysia… ummm……. donno if my grandchildren will see it or not.