Audi has taken the wraps off its four-door Audi e-tron Sportback concept in Shanghai, promising that a production version will follow as early as 2019.
The concept – which measures 4,90 m long, 1,98 m wide and 1,53 m high, with a wheelbase of 2,93 m – uses a configuration that Audi says will be adopted in future production models with all-electric drive: one electric motor on the front axle and two on the rear. The new quattro, if you will.
This results in 320 kW – and up to 370 kW in the boost mode – which is enough for a 0-100 km/h sprint in a claimed 4,5 seconds. In addition, Audi says this concept’s range stands at 500 km.
The show car’s liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery is positioned between the axles, below the passenger compartment. This lends it a low centre of gravity and a balanced axle load distribution of 52:48, front to rear.
Inside, you’ll find touch-sensitive screens below the central display, on the centre console and on the door trims.
Audi has also paid plenty of attention to the four-seater concept car’s lighting technology, employing digitally controlled Matrix LED units at the front and rear.
The Ingolstadt automaker says a combination of LEDs and micro-mirror-studded surfaces plus “complex control technology” allow for a large number of animated movements and signatures for the daytime running lights.
Below these elements, to the left and right of the signature Singleframe grille, there are two large-area light fields each comprising an arrangement of around 250 LEDs. Audi says they offer a “vast array of possibilities for creating engaging graphics or specific communicative signs, even while on the move”.
