Are you ready to say auf wiedersehen to performance petrol engines? Audi NZ’s push to point purists toward an electric future is about to kick off.

INTENT to steer Kiwis away from their fossil fuel-frenzied Audis and toward full fizz electric equivalents is about to step up.

The trigger is the E-tron GT, a performance-focused four-door coupé combining enough rapid performance with rapid charging to match the platform-sharing Porsche Taycan, whose supercar-slaying stomp has won global acclaim.

 The first electric out of Audi that’s been purpose-designed to specifically appeal to the marque’s petrolhead audience, especially fervent in this country, is a confirmed starter here.

 The model received mention at today’s media event for the E-Tron Sportback, a $169,990 car that’s also set to develop into an S-badged flagship that’ll also represent in the SUV bodystyle that’s been here for a year.

Audi NZ boss Dean Sheed also shared why he’s comfortable promoting all three future additions with revheads presently driving fossil-fuelled S and RS models. 

“We’ll definitely be talking to them because they are right in the sweet spot. The reason I say that is because this is the first complete car from Audi Sport … it has a huge credibility and it just happens to also be electric.”

Will the old-school buy into the new way? Sheed reckons he can talk most around to at least thinking about it.

“When people see it, when they understand the technology and when they find out how it drives .. well, they’re going to want it.”

The GT won’t be here until mid-2021 and the S derivatives are likely to land in the third quarter, yet the hearts and minds campaign starts in January.

 The GT’s full development path is exciting, with high certainty it will ultimately achieve RennSport accreditation, so becoming the first non fuel pump-reliant RS car ever. That breakthrough might occur in 2022.

Those S models and the GT in its initial roll out won’t be lacking, either.

Whereas the mainstream E-Tron SUV that has been here since last year and the new Sportback that releases this week run dual motors, and offer power and torque of 300kW and 664Nm (there’s also a base E-Tron SUV with 230kW and 540Nm), the S editions are the world’s first EVs with three motors – one of the front and two in the back – and pack 370kW and 973Nm.

A cited 0-100kmh time of 4.5 seconds places the models as the second fastest S models Audi presently makes, beaten only by the petrol-gulping S8 sedan. Top speed is regulated to 210kmh.

As for the GT? Outputs have yet to be given, but Taycan presumably gives a good idea of what’s in store and Audi has already made clear that even if some GTs are dual motor like the Taycan, the RS will provide with three as well. 

Porsche’s model line spans from a 4S with 320kW (390kW on overboost) and 640Nm, a Turbo with 460-500kW and a flagship Turbo S with up to 560kW. Zero to 100 times range from 4.2 to just 2.8 seconds.

Talk overseas is that the GT RS will pack no more than 522kW, so as not overshadow the top trumps Porsche. For his part, Sheed assures the car will be comfortably quicker and gruntier than the E-Tron S and will also serve up with varying levels of hotness.

“We have not made up our minds which ones we will take yet but, if you have an S car with around 370kW, we are unlikely to a GT at the same level. We will likely go with a hot car and an even hotter car.”

He acknowledges Audi NZ has enjoyed massive success with its S and RS badged models. RS penetration here is world-leading on a per head of population count.

A wide span of more than a dozen models – not just the traditional passenger models, but also sports utilities from the Q3 up to the Q8 – are presently leveraging that interest, with more than 200 registered this year alone.

Yet times are changing. While some have 48 volt electrical architectures that alleviate some fuel burn burden, all these heavy hitters rely on souped up petrol engines – from fours to also turbocharged V6s, V8s, plus a V10 - that are the biggest drinkers within their respective model families.

That actually raises another point. When it comes to range, most of Audi’s electrics will prove superior to some of the big banger petrols; the GT, for instance, is expected to arrive with a 96kWh battery that delivers a respectable 400km electric range on the official WLTP test cycle. Try getting that far in an RSQ8.

Sheed isn’t sure the argument needs be that direct. “You can burn a lot of petrol and diesel in any car … we’re just talking about using another fuel type and it happens to be electricity.

“The cool thing about EV technology is that you can ‘refuel’ your car overnight and your running costs are an absolute fraction of what you would normally have.”

Alternately, an 80 percent charge should be possible in as little as 20 minutes if you can find a rapid charger that allows the car to absorb energy at its maximum 350kW rate. Present E-trons replenish at a maximum 150kW.

Dynamics-wise? Even though EVS carry lots of weight, they need not be elephantine.

“You can also do all the things you might enjoy doing in an ICE (internal combustion) car,” Sheed says, pointing out that as well as being massively accelerative, the S models and GT are tailored to undertake drifting naughtiness.

That close relationship with the Taycan also suggests that the handling should be pretty special, as does the fact the battery occupies the entire underfloor area between the front and rear axles.

This helps to give the car a centre of gravity comparable with the Audi R8 supercar which, ironically, is set to be the other model rolling out of the Neckarsulm factory that will host GT production.

Plus, there’s an additional feel-good: “If you’re focussed on sustainability and on wanting to leave the world in a better place … well, there is one clear choice.” 

Audi has not signalled intent here or internationally to curtail any of its combustion-engined performance models, but simply the VW Group’s determination to leave ICE behind for an electric future says everything.

Sheed says moves in the United Kingdom and Europe to make the sale of ICE models illegal from as early as 2030 are obviously being noted by makers. The NZ scene is obviously influenced by that, yet of course there’s yet to be direction from Government about fleet intention so “without clear direction … we have no plan.”

However change is unavoidable. “I understand why people are petrol heads and I started life that way, too.

“But I understand where the electrical strategy is and I understand how good an EV can be. If I had a future view about leaving our wonderful country in a better place, my choice is electric.”

Audi NZ has not yet shared specific volume expectation for GT, which stands as the brand’s fifth production-confirmed electric car. Two others that have been made public, the Q4 E-Tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback, are coming to NZ at the start of 2022.

The GT’s finished design is set to be revealed soon, but pictures of camouflaged prototypes suggest that it won’t stray far from the 2018 concept car of the same name.

One last thing. The sound signature: Nothing beats the roar of a performance petrol engine, right? Well, true, electrics cannot emulate that level of noise, but Audi promises the GT will be pleasing to the purist ear. A team of sound engineers have, through blending combinations of 32 different audio tracks, created what they claim will be ‘one of the most aurally active’ EVs on the market.