Audi’s new electric platform debuts

The PPE underpinning used by the stylish e-tron A6 concept is crucial for this make and Porsche.

THE soon-to-land e-tron GT sedan and its RS flagship are good reminders that Audi’s electric brand isn’t just about sports utilities – but just in case that message hasn’t resonated, here’s another passenger car concept that enforces it all the more.

The e-tron A6 styling study revealed by the brand doesn’t just serve to preview how the next generation of large Audis will look – which, in this instance, is sedan-ish but with a dollop of influence from the A7 Sportback. It is also a debut for a new electric platform designed specifically for bigger models.

In respect to exterior dimension, the A6 e-tron is very similar in size to the current Audi A6 and A7, though the concept's wheelbase is longer, and the overhangs shorter. Audi has dropped fat hints that these proportions will make it through to production.

Audi has only released images of the exterior. The display car rides on five-spoke, 22-inch alloy wheels, has cameras instead of door mirrors and no visible door handles. Dig the flared arches and an interesting black design element that breaks up the 'Heliosilver' paint and stylishly links in with another black section in the rear bumper.

Viewed from the rear, a significant diffuser can also be seen. It's part of a suite of aerodynamic measures to reduce drag. Audi quotes a coefficient of just 0.22.

The A6 e-tron's head lights use Digital Matrix LED technology and can even project a high-resolution display onto a wall or screen in front of the car. To demonstrate this, Audi has created a smartphone game that can be played on the projected screen. The lights can also maximise illumination of the road ahead without blinding other road users, and project various symbols and patterns to enhance safety.

The tail lights use digital OLED tech, allowing customisable light signatures and start-up light shows in 3D. Indicators are also high-res LED projectors, with the ability to project signals onto the road. Projectors are integrated into each side sill, to display welcome messages.

The most important aspect of the A6 e-tron is one you can’t see. The car is on the new PPE - Premium Platform Electric – underpinning which designed for large Audi and Porsche electric cars. Production models using PPE roll out in late 2022. It’s thought the first will be the Audi Q6 e-tron SUV, followed by an A6 e-tron in 2023.

The concept's battery pack is said to hold about 100kWh of energy, fuelling an electric motor on each axle. Maximum outputs are quoted as 350kW and 800Nm of torque.

Audi says that the most powerful versions of the A6 e-tron will do 0-100kmh in less than four seconds, while the most efficient models, using just one rear-mounted electric motor, should achieve more than 700 kilometres on a charge.

Like the e-tron GT and RS, the PPE cars will use an 800-volt architecture, allowing rapid charging at up to 270kW.

Thought is that other PPE cars in the Audi pipeline will include an A4 e-tron, a Q5 e-tron, a Q7/Q8 e-tron and perhaps an electric A8 e-tron.

Q4 e-tron set to deliver tech edge

An augmented reality head-up display is among snazzy new features on incoming Audi.

AUDI has allowed a sneak peek of what will likely become its most important new electric car of the immediate future, the Q4 e-tron – not just at its styling but also at some of the technology.

In respect to the electronic whizz-bangs, there’s particular pride in a new head-up display landing with a model that Audi New Zealand has previously said is intended be fully settled in by early 2022 to sit below the e-tron in wagon and Sportback styles, the impending S editions of those, plus the more performance-oriented e-tron GT, which shares an underpinning with the Porsche Taycan and includes an RS edition. 

This is regardless that other NZ-destined cars on the MEB platform (VW ID.4, Skoda Enyaq and SEAT El-Born) have all been significantly delayed for local introduction because of VW Group’s desire to satisfy demand in Europe before releasing them elsewhere.

Anyway, if things change for the Q4 e-tron, Audi’s first MEB car, we’ll let you know.

Back to the tech. Projecting information such as speed and navigation directions onto the windscreen so that the images seem to be hovering somewhere over the bonnet, and the driver can keep their eye up and out on the road, rather than looking down at an instrument panel, is nothing new.

Audi is now taking that to the next level, in two ways.

First, it has vastly increased the size of the projection. The HUD in the Q4 appears to be 178cm (70 inches) across. 

Secondly, it’s relaying much more than the usual basics. New prompts that appear to float in space around 10 metres in front of the car include a navigation direction graphic - a series of bright blue chevrons - that point you down the right turning, or pick out your final destination.

It can also keep an eye on other traffic, warning with little red or green lines if you're too close to the car in front, and even predicting where other cars are going to go next, by reading the car's 'body language.' The lane keep assist function gains a visual element by showcasing the position of the Q4’s wheel tracks on the road ahead.  

Worried this could become too distracting? Audi’s engineers involved in this project say the exact opposite is their goal: "The data itself is chosen to be contextual and situational.  

“So actually we don't want to overload the driver with a lot of information. The meaning of augmented reality and the use of it is to show the information you need, when you need it. And this is exactly what we're doing.” 

The tech upgrade doesn’t there. The main touchscreen in the centre console is, at 29.5cm (11.6 inches) across, one of the biggest screen Audi has yet put into one of its cars. The Q4 e-tron also lacks a gearstick and achieves a funky new steering wheel, flattened off at the top and bottom, featuring touch-sensitive haptic pads on the spokes instead of traditional buttons and roller switches.

At 4590mm long, 1865mm wide and 1,613mm tall, Q4 e-tron appears similar in physical size to the Audi Q3, regardless it is intended to slot between that car and the Q5 and despite but the wheelbase being long, at 2760mm. 

The benefits of being on the MEB architecture is that will be a lot roomier that the compact and medium orthodox ‘Q’ models: Some who have seen the car already say it has the kind of space you'd expect from the Audi Q7,  with lots of rear legroom and stadium-style seating in the back.

What it doesn't have is a seven-seat option. Does this seem odd, given that it has a massive 541-litre boot (with a 40:20:20 split rear bench opening up 1490 litres with the rear seats folded down) and also, of course, three-row formats are popular with consumers. Audi has indicated only that a dedicated seven-seat electric car is on the way, but is vague in respect to that model being part of this family. One other point of interest is that this model eschews a 'frunk' under-bonnet storage area; that space has been filled by ancillary systems, such as the air conditioning unit, to maximise cabin space.

 Audi intends to keep the Q4 e-tron’s shape wrapped in camo tape until next month, however it’s surely quite obvious the car in today’s images still roughly matches the original Q4 concept, in general dimension and look, with many of the production vehicle’s surfacing and lines are taken directly from the concept. The obvious revisions cited by overseas’ media are changes to conventional side skirts, smaller vents at the front, a toned-down rear diffuser and smaller wheels. 

Drivetrain specifications have not been revealed, but it will share the same range of electric motors and battery packs as the ID.4, with a range topping quattro variant sporting a 225kW twin-motor, four-wheel-drive powertrain and a 77kWh (usable) battery. A 0-100kmh time of around six seconds, a top speed of 180kmh and a maximum WLTP range of 500km are expected.

BMW iX here in 2021

BMW has revealed the iX, an electric sports utility to rival models Audi and Mercedes Benz already have on the road, and says it’ll be here in 2021.

MEMO to Audi and Mercedes – don’t get too cosy; BMW will by this time next year have a car to rival your premium EV zone products in style and sophistication and outgun on range. 

That’s the message from Munich’s local distributor today with the global unveiling of the iX, the much-anticipated long-awaited all electric sports utility that BMW has developed as a technological flagship.

The production version of the Vision iNext concept that was revealed back in 2018 is still a year away from rolling down the assembly line in Dingolfing, Germany, from the second half of 2021… yet intention is to fast-track this five-seater straight to this part of the world.

BMW New Zealand says it will have the car on sale in the second half of 2021 and while intending buyers have yet to be given any idea about local market cost and specifications, they can be assured the car which has been revealed internationally today is accurately representative of what will ultimately hit our roads.  

So, in a nutshell, an utterly futuristic model that accounts for similar road space as the BMW X5 (but has similar interior room as the next size-up X7) with very high specification and plush appointments in two levels of bodywork, a standard look and a sport enhancement with more rakish styling elements.  

What’s promised is a big step forward over the brand’s sole all-electric offering of the moment, the i3 – as well it should be, given the landmark city car is in its seventh year. 

In respect to the core elements of sustainability, connectivity, automated driving and design, it also reaches a lot further than the iX3 – the electrified X3 coming on sale in early 2021.

BMW hasn't finalised the figures that surround the iX's electric powertrain, but we are told that the car will be powered by two electric motors (with no rare earth elements), producing 'more than' 370kW, which comprehensively beats the 300kW EQC and e-tron 50 and 55 (respectively 230kW and 300kW).  

Apparently the iX will do 0-100kmh in under five seconds, but of greater importance is the efficiency and range between charges. BMW expects the car will average 21kWh per 100km on the WLTP cycle, resulting in a range of more than 600km from its 100kWh battery pack.

 Recharging times are also impressive … when the right hardware is in place. The iX3 can be DC fast-charged at up to 200kW, allowing 10-80 percent charging in under 40 minutes, or 120km range for 10 minutes of charge.

That mightn’t be quite that sharp on NZ’s national subscription infrastructure, which still heavily bases on 50kWh replenishment points, though change is occurring, with 150kWh chargers starting to proliferate and 300kWh devices planned for introduction next year. On a 11kW wallbox, the 0-100 percent charge takes nearly 11 hours.

The iX diverts from the previously announced brand plan to base future BMW electric models around the same platforms as the existing petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid models. 

The car premiers a new aluminium space frame that supports an inner carbon cage fabricated from CFRP – for composite plastic and carbon-fibre-reinforced-plastic – covered with a body made out of a combination of aluminium and CFRP. The latter is a material BMW has become accustomed to working with as it features intensively in the i3 and now discontinued i8 plug-in hybrid sports car.

BMW says the architecture is highly compatible with the chassis used by the 3 Series through to the 8 Series, as well as the X3 through to the X7. In an interview with German media, high-ups hint key elements of its engineering will be used by other new BMW i sub-brand models in the future.

The Vision iNext’s styling influence is obvious. The large blanked-off grille, heavily chamfered wheel arches, largely unadorned flanks, frameless doors, fixed B-pillars, prominent rear hunches and a tapered glasshouse are straight from the design study. 

For the first time in a modern-day BMW model, the iX will feature a fixed clamshell style bonnet. 

“Without a traditional engine or frunk (front trunk), there is no need for customers to open the bonnet,” BMW design boss, Domagoj Dukec explained.

Full LED main beams are standard, though buyers will also be able to specify BMW’s Laser lights as an option. At the rear, the iX’s narrow tail lamps receive LED functionality as standard.

A series of aerodynamic developments, including the blanked-off grille, minimal air ducting within the front bumper, flat underbody panelling, integrated door handles with an electronic opening mechanism and the tapered glasshouse, contribute to a claimed drag coefficient of 0.25.

Audi gets loud with quiet achiever

The car that kicks off a new era for Audi is now available in a cheaper format.

 EFFORT to instil the e-tron as a relevant competitor to fossil-fuelled supports utilities is stepping up with arrival of another variant. 

The e-tron ‘50’ quattro going into dealerships now is a lookalike for the ‘55’ model that started Audi’s full-electric charge into the SUV sector a year ago, but has a less powerful quattro drivetrain that offers about 100kms’ less range. 

Those factors, however, don’t inhibit it from being perfect for NZ driving the brand says. They also deliver a positive in the model’s pricing – the launch price is more than $30,000 less than that for the ‘55’. 

In this respect, though, an equally significant contributor to this positioning is Audi itself. 

Audi New Zealand, which is a privately-owned concession held by the Giltrap family, has acknowledged it has received something independent national distributors cannot always rely upon - significant factory support. 

This has allowed the Auckland distributor to launch the model at $119,900.

Brand boss Dean Sheed says that’s around $16k less than the recommended retail the car will ultimately carry once that support ends. By comparison, the ‘55’ comes in for around $150,000 in a base format, with a higher-specced Advanced model costing another $5000. 

Audi NZ intends to leverage the ‘market special’ launch price fully, by also advertising that the ‘50’ will be eligible for an operational lease arrangement for businesses. 

This provisions the car for-$1799 plus GST a month with no deposit and monthly payments all tax deductible as an operating expense. “And you hand the car back in three years’ time.”

Sheed has not disclosed volume expectations for the ‘50’, but says has expressed hope that its positioning will draw a significant interest, not least from purchasers for whom price is more of a priority than any prestige factor. 

“If the buyer is a price shopper then the $119k MSRP puts it smack into high end mid-sized SUVs … if it’s a first time EV buyer its more palatable than its big brother at $155k.”

Audi NZ is set to progressively enlarge the e-tron family over the next year; soon the range will be joined by a lower-roofed Sportback shape and this time next year it is adding performance-themed S model.

All variants are all-wheel drive models, powered by an electric motor for each axle. By default the e-tron drives through the rear motor only, until the driver demands extra performance and traction. 

All variants also have lithium ion batteries, but whereas the ‘55’ has a 95kWh unit and electric motors that generate 300kW and 664Nm, the ‘50’ runs a 71kWh battery and power and torque reduce to 230kW and 540Nm.

This translates to a longer 0-100kmh time, of 6.8 seconds versus 5.7s, and also a lower range, with Audi claiming a maximum 347kms’ from full battery to depleted as established from assessment on the WLTP protocol against 446km. 

How much difference will this make to the buyer profile? Probably.

“The ‘50’ is a trial at the entry point … we will see the public feedback. I believe it will be mainly a city-based car for family’s or a business owner’s car.” 

Sheed says the ‘55’ has proven itself; not least because it’s in a sweet spot for price versus spec. And yet “this smaller battery enables a smaller price point which can be used in other models.”

The variant’s arrival as NZ comes part some degree of post-Covid normality is useful. Sales stopped during lockdown but not consumer interest. 

“Buyers kept doing research, now they are coming back to the market with precise needs and expectations.”

Warranty and roadside assist provisions are as per the ‘55’ and it also runs a comprehensive specification, including the 20-inch rim and 225/50 tyre set that otherwise provides to the ‘55’ Advance. The battery comprises 324 prismatic cells combined in 27 modules.

Recharging times are as per the ‘55’, with Audi NZ reminding that compliance with fast-charging available up to 120kW means that the car is “all set for the next long-distance stretch of a journey in approximately 30 minutes.”

A mobile charging system can be used with a 230-volt household outlet or the recommended, 32 Amp industrial plug via Audi’s home charging installation process. Alternately, the battery can be supplied with alternating current (AC) at a charging capacity up to 11kW, which will take approximately seven hours.

Q4 e-tron on target for NZ

Here it is, the Audi electric going for mass appeal.

“WE are still discussing the car but our desire is to take it as it will become a volume seller here.

“I have seen the vehicle as a concept and I know it will work and become a mainline seller here.”

So, there you have it. The viewpoint from Audi NZ boss Dean Sheed, in respect to the latest electric from Ingolstadt unveiled to the world today, could surely not be plainer.

 As soon as the Q4 e-tron hits the production line – at the moment, that’s timed for late this year, pesky Covid-19 allowing - he’ll be booking it a ticket to our market and making arrangement for it to achieve permanent residency, with intent to have it fully settled in by early 2022.

And why not? The car’s credentials are really quite impressive, and not just because of the cited potential range of 500km.

In addition to being Audi’s seventh EV it is also the first on the MEB platform, the structure upon which all key VW Group electric vehicles already signed off for NZ introduction are based. VW’s impending ID family, starting with the ID3 hatch and a close-following ID4 crossover, the SEAT El-Born and Skoda Enyaq are all close cousins.

When you think Q4, it’s times two. A more orthodox hatch – subject of a preview last year - and now the car revealed today, a rakish, coupe-style Sportback offshoot, which is the one that especially has Sheed’s attention.

He suggests the cars each “sit nicely between the Q3 and Q5 exterior dimensions (German logic) and the Sportback denotes the coupe style to the body – think the latest Q3 SUV to the Q3 Sportback.”

By the time Q4 arrives, Audi will have already enlarged its electric family beyond the e-tron SUV that has been on sale for almost a year, and a Sportback coming on sale in late September, to include S versions of those cars – coming in the third quarter of next year - plus the e-tron GT. 

The last is basically a sister ship to the Porsche Taycan and potentially the most exclusive Audi EV here until 2025, when the so-called A9, a new flagship model being developed by an in-house working group called Artemis, arrives.

The S variants of e-tron have just been unveiled in Europe and will certainly add fizz to the category. As the first production electric cars to feature three electric motors they pump out around 372kW, which translates to a 0-100kmh time of 4.5 seconds and top speed of 210kmh. It’s the second fastest S model Audi makes, beaten only by the petrol-gulping S8 sedan.

Anyway, Audi’s incoming EV imprint is something of a mass attack, and even though it’s not one specifically aimed at the mass market – that’s a turf VW, Skoda and SEAT will be focussing on – it will be expected to be Ingolstadt’s highest volume EV for the foreseeable future. 

Rivals will be other plush electric SUVs such as the Tesla Model Y and Volvo XC40 Recharge. Undoubtedly the BMW i4 will also be considered a foil.

So, anyway, with the timelines all sorted, potential Kiwi customers have a good year to consider which version they might prefer – one with, as Audi AG puts it, “the versatility and robustness” of the classic SUV or the dynamic elegance of the Coupe variant. 

Either way, the dimensions are almost identical. With an exterior length of 4.6 metres and a height of 1.6m, the Sportback is 1cm longer and flatter than the hatch. They’re identical for width (1.9m) and wheelbase (2.77m).

They also have the same drive technology, comprising two electric motors mobilising 225kW of system output, transferring via quattro all-wheel drive (which, in EV terms, means each wheel set having an electric motor to drive it) or, optionally, via the rear wheels alone, in which case there’s just a single electric motor.

The all-paw edition is designated the performance format, but that’s not going to make it a threat to any of Audi’s petrol-dedicated RS cars. 

Perhaps the inevitable S variants will zap things up all the more, but at present with Q4 e-tron quattro zero to 100kmh occurs in 6.3 seconds and, as on the other MEB cars, top speed is restricted to 180kmh. 

The electric motors are fed by an 82 kiloWatt hour battery that takes up almost the entire space in the underbody area between the axles. A range of “over 450 kilometres” assessed under the worldwide harmonised light vehicle (WLTP) process is claimed for the quattro and just over 500km for the rear-drive. Audi sees this as setting a benchmark in its class.

Even though it’s dual motor, in most cases, the quattro mainly uses its rear electric motor, a permanently excited synchronous motor, in order to achieve the highest efficiency. For reasons of efficiency, the drive torque is generally distributed with a rear-axle bias. 

Audi says if the driver demands more power than the rear electric motor can supply, the electric all-wheel drive uses the front asynchronous motor to redistribute the torque as required to the front axle. “This also happens predictively even before slip occurs in icy conditions or when cornering fast, or if the car understeers or oversteers.”

The electric motor in the rear end has an output of 150 kW and torque of 310Nm. The front motor supplies the front wheels with up to 75kW and 150Nm. The system output is 225kW. The battery is charged with a maximum of 125 kilowatts so therefore takes little more than 30 minutes to reach 80 percent of the total capacity, assuming with direct charge replenishment.

The compact electric product line also features a sophisticated recuperation strategy, “leaving out no possibility for optimising its range” according to the factory bumpf. “The complex thermal management of the drive and battery, which involves a CO2 heat pump, also contributes to this.”

It says a key factor for the car’s sporty character and outstanding transverse dynamics is the low and central position at which the drive components are installed, not least that 510kg battery. 

“The high-voltage battery system is optimally matched to the dimensions of the Audi Q4 Sportback and is located between the axles in the form of a flat, broad block beneath the passenger compartment. The centre of gravity … is therefore at a similar level to that of a sedan with a conventional drive system. 

“Axle load distribution is perfectly balanced at almost 50:50. The front wheels of the Q4 Sportback e-tron concept are guided on a MacPherson axle with adaptive dampers. In the rear, there is a multi-link axle with separate springs and adaptive dampers.” 

Ingolstadt is really chirpy about the Sportback styling, particularly in respect to how the silhouette slopes downward to the back in a subtle and dynamic curve, part of the effort to achieve an impressive aero of just 0.26 Cd. 

“The roof line transitions into the significantly inclined D-pillars and ends in a horizontal spoiler at the level of the lower window edge. As a result, the future Audi Q4 Sportback appears much longer than its sister model, the Q4 e-tron concept.” It’s impossible for Audi not to mention any new design without claiming reference to the legendary original quattro of 1980. With the Q4 e-tron the lineage expresses in those prominently modelled wheel arches.

As much as the Sportback is being pushed as the prettier thing, it is hardly calling the more orthodox alternate a mutt. “The widened features of the Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback are designed to be highly organic and flowing, and they add a characteristic touch to the side view.”

 It is confident no-one will be troubled understanding how these two models belong to the same e-tron family. Likewise, neither will there be any misunderstanding to them being battery-fed, claiming “it will take no more than two glances to see that this is an electric Audi.” Oh yes, and you’re correct in assuming these cars run on 22 inch hoops. 

Of course, so slinky is all well and good, but what of interior space? Well, that the cars present in four-seater format suggests compromise has been unavoidable. Yet Audi also proposes that the 2.77m wheelbase and the lack of a transmission tunnel deliver enough pluses for it to offer “unsuspected spaciousness and comfort, especially in terms of legroom at the front and even more in the rear.” They’ve also meted it an interior colour scheme to accentuate impression of it being less than of a cocoon; so, dark hues are restricted to the carpets and upper section is lighter hues, with the headlining, window pillars and the upper section of the door rail and dash panel fitted with white and beige microfiber textiles.

The latter also reflects a sustainability priority: The floor covering is made of recycled materials and, instead of chrome-plated metal decor frames, the surfaces are covered with a high-quality multi-layer paint finish. Seats are upholstered in Alcantara material rather than leather here.

As expected, the Q4 follows in the e-tron SUV’s tyre tracks in making full use of Audi’s virtual cockpit tech; core display elements for speed, charge level, and navigation are located behind the steering wheel but there’s also the new feature of a large-format head-up display with an augmented reality function. It can display important graphical information, such as directional arrows for turning, directly on the course of the road.

Control panels designed as touch elements on the steering wheel spokes can be used to select frequently used functions. In the middle above the centre console, there is a 12.3-inch touchscreen via which the infotainment and vehicle functions are displayed and operated, with ventilation controls below.

As the centre console does not need to account for a gear lever or hand brake, it becomes a stowage compartment that includes a cell phone charging cradle. A horizontal area into which the selector button for the transmission mode is integrated also serves as a cover for the front section of the console.

S editions enhance e-tron spark

Audi’s big electric breakthrough is about to achieve extra sizzle.

The e-tron S is the first three-motor electric car.

TWENTY percent of annual volume, perhaps even more at the start.

That’s the prediction Audi New Zealand boss Dean Sheed has expressed for a pair of more potent editions of the all-electric e-tron sports utility. 

Just unveiled on its home turf and set to come on sale in the third quarter of next year, the e-tron S variants are hotted-up versions of the 55 quattro five-door wagon that has been here since last July plus a more rakish Sportback landing in September.

A thorough rework of the standard cars has been required to earn a performance badge that’s historically been the preserve of fizzed-up petrol product sitting one step below the ultimate RS cars.

To achieve the right performance edge, these are the first production electric cars to feature three electric motors. 

Whereas the current e-tron 55 has an electric motor on each axle, the S versions maintain a single up front and has two on the rear.

The full output is around 372kW – against around 300kW for the e-tron 55 on sale here at the moment - and while the top speed is just 210kmh, the step-off is far more … well, electric.

A cited 0-100kmh time of 4.5 seconds places the e-tron S as the second fastest S model Audi presently makes, beaten only by the petrol-gulping S8 sedan. 

Also, as today’s video shows, that oomph out back allows it to doing something else special: It’s an e-tron that’ll drift. 

The cars’ international unveiling this week has prompted the national distributor to speak about its own plans.

Sheed says it is still too early to discuss price in part because local market content has yet to be decided. In the first right-hand-drive market, the United Kingdom, the models place around $20,000 above NZ specification e-tron 55s.

However, he already has no doubt that the S variants will be well placed to lend significant additional zap to the e-tron 55’s sales impact, which in itself has been satisfactory, with 130 registered to date.

The just-landed entry $119,900 e-tron 50 variant, which reduces from a 91kWh battery to a 71kWh unit and drops in range to 305km, is expected to elevate that count and keep Audi in tune with its forecast. More improvement will come with the Sportback releasing in September.

Even so, it’s the S editions that seem set to be the powerbrokers – they’ll achieve two in every five sales almost off the bat, he says, so keeping step with a ratio that also occurs with the S petrol cars. So, hardly niche.

As for e-tron’s overall status? Well, it’s still something of an outsider in terms of what it achieves for overall Audi volume, though that’s simply down to historic perception about electric cars, Sheed believes. 

the e-tron sportback, landing in september, is also achieving S treatment.

However, there’s positivity the message is getting through and transition occurring.

“EVs are still an education,” he concedes, but acceptance of the path car makers are taking and the sustainability advantages is increasing.

“There is a strong mental shift in respect to EVs in the market … you will see the mainstreaming of EVs over time with or without Government support.” 

Meantime, the e-tron S is expected to be seen as a more powerful alternate to the Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X Long Range, which it matches for acceleration. 

With the S, only the rear motors are used in normal driving, the front motor being reserved for hard acceleration and if the wheels start to lose traction. 

The two rear motors can send varying amounts of power to each wheel as needed, and Audi says the ‘S’ versions are more rear-biased than regular models. 

orange highlights are not mandatory

The extra performance only slightly affects range. Audi says the e-tron S and e-tron S Sportback manage 358 and 363km respectively on a full charge, whereas the 55 quattro versions offer just over 400kms.

S-specific adaptive suspension is fitted, which can adjust the ride height by up to 76mm to best suit the seven driving modes on offer.

As with other e-trons, the ‘S’ variants can replenish off 150kW fast chargers; that kind of hit will restore the battery to 80 percent in around half an hour. 

Thanks to wheel arch extensions, the e-tron S pair are 5cm wider than standard, while S styling touches like aluminium mirror caps and extra trim are fitted.

Automatically opening grilles and vents, which remain closed until they’re needed to improve efficiency. UK models are fitted with 21-inch alloy wheels as standard; 22s being available as an optional extra. It’s hard to imagine the NZ spec coming with anything less.

The local distributor’s desire to deliver plenty of spec is going to be easily achieved with the S. 

The model takes electrically adjustable sports seats upholstered in upmarket Nappa leather and a brushed aluminium trim finisher, with a carbon-fibre version on the options list. The Virtual Cockpit digital display is standard alongside online navigation, and as with the 55 quattro a head-up display and cameras instead of wing mirrors can be specified.

Future TT has promise, current has done its dash

The TT as we’ve known it is now a memory – the one that might be next is an exciting thought for Audi NZ.

Still hankering for a TT? Sorry, this one has done its dash in NZ.

LAST chance to see has already gone – but, assuredly, if the TT returns in the form it is predicted to adopt, as an electric car, the local distributor will be interested.

This today as Audi New Zealand has confirmed it has bypassed opportunity to resume selling the TT, preferring instead to focus on the new-generation RSQ3 models set to release imminently in Sportback and continued hatchback formats. 

General manager Dean Sheed says it was a tough call to determine to keep the car that when released originally in 1998, was a global styling bombshell.

But fact is that TT volume was down to a trickle when the car was withdrawn from global production last year, a victim of Volkswagen Group having been defeated in its bid to get all its products homologated in time to meet a rigorous World new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure emissions deadline.

Withdrawing certain models was the only option; cars lacking WLTP compliance could not be sold anyway (in Europe at least) and the maker would have faced hefty fines as well.

That issue has now been resolved for the TT, which has been reissued in a smartened format, headed again by a sharp-looking RS flagship, that in all likelihood will present as the final run for the car in a fossil-fuelled format.

And then? Well, it’s really not shock-horror news any more that there’s supposedly a new TT on the drawing board set to be energised in a totally different, future-ready way.

five cylinder fun can still be had … in the new RSQ3

Audi – and the wider car world of course – is going all-in on electric. And future E-tron models won’t restrict to the sports utility range we presently see. 

Talk about the successor to the TT we have now being re-energised into a fully electric sports weapon for its fourth-generation dates back to May of 2019, when then Audi boss Bram Schot announced that “in a few years, we will replace the TT with a new emotive model in the same price range … with an electric car.”

Just recently, a new report claims the car will ride on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform that debuted last year with the ID.3. The final shape is still under wraps and there’s even been talk that it could re-emerge in an SUV-ish format rather than as it is now.

Sheed was cautious when asked if he knew anything about the e-TT, saying: “I haven’t seen the model you refer to, although it’s been talked about in the media.

“You know our customers and we love performance cars (Audi Sport) and electric powertrains, so naturally I would entertain the concept when it was available – the decision will be the same as today, a hot SUV or a hot sportscar, market size and consumer preference.”

The ‘if’ and ‘when’ of an electric TT will doubtless clarify once Audi gives out some signs about how much longer the current car, with its evocative five-cylinder petrol engine, will live. Potentially it’s not for much longer given this generation shape hit the street in 2014.

Audi’S e-tron family plan is cemented - and an all-electric sports car would seem logical.

It’s also prudent to bear in mind that Audi’s grand plan is to sell one million electrified cars each year by the middle of the next decade, which is quite a lot of electrified cars to sell by 2025.

Of course, that ideal was explained prior to coronavirus, so perhaps the delays and financial walloping the illness has inflicted on the global car trade, and national economies, might slow things down a bit. Yet, at the end of the day, the future will inevitably continue to head away from oil because … well, it’s a finite fuel, remember.

In the here and now, you’d have to think the conventionally powered model would be hardly set to leave the scene quietly.

With 294kW and 480Nm, that 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbocharged engine is a forceful involver; a true celebration of the five-pot fury whose family line runs right back to those original Ur Quattro rally scene changers. The new RS is claimed to accomplish 0-100kmh in 3.7 seconds, which makes it half a second faster in that sprint than the (much more expensive) Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.

Potentially, then, knowing that the ‘final fling’ editions aren’t officially coming here might bolster the residual values of previous RS, which held a recommended retail of $149,500. That car became unavailable around mid-2019.