You might've noticed Audi is advertising their new e-tron, and it's not even released yet.
We'll have to wait until 2019. That has a couple of reasons.
Audi has started to develop fully electric cars relatively late, this is going to be their first one.
They want to show the people that they're underway, and people are able to wait and see until 2019.
Besides that, it has something to do with Audi's image as a whole.
The Dieselgate wasn't easy for Audi, so Audi can use an image boost.
And what better way is there than building a serious electric car, in the green world we're living in right now.
I was allowed to meet the car today. I was able to sit in the passenger seat and I have some information,
which I'm going to share with you. First of all, the specs.
Very important. It's powered by two electric motors,
one on the front axle and one on the rear axle. Together, they permanently produce 360 horsepower.
They can temporarily produce a total of 408 horsepower, but only for eight seconds, for a sprint or something.
Audi says that if you floor it for eight seconds, you'll be doing 200+ km/h anyway.
If you let go of the throttle, the electric motors are able to cool down a bit,
which regenerates the power again. It has a 95 kWh-battery pack,
and it'll do 400 km on a single charge, according to the WLTP-cycle.
Our experience has been that the WLTP-cycle is pretty accurate...
for electric cars. The NEDC would've estimated beyond 500 km.
You should count on it that you can do 350 km, if not 400 km if you take it easy.
It's slightly bigger than an Audi Q5. It's on the MLBevo-platform,
only it's a little different. It's slightly longer than the Q5,
so it's more spacious in the back as well, but I'll show you in a bit.
That's good to know for the base specs. On the outside, there's something I have to point out.
There's a camera instead of a mirror here. Audi is the first brand which was able to homologate this feature...
for the production version as well, so you now have a small screen in your door.
Sure, Volkswagen has their XL1, but not a lot of those were made.
This is going to be a mass produced car with a camera. Also, I want to point out the wheels.
They're nice and alloy and stuff, but they're also very clean,
despite being driven. So why is that?
Audi has done their best so you don't have to use the brakes, which means you can regenerate the electric energy,
which is in the speed of the car. Also, if you don't use the brake discs,
your alloys won't get as dirty, because they don't emit dust.
If we take a look at the room in the back, we can see I've got lots of leg- and headroom.
Also, the seat is high enough, or rather, the floor is low enough so the angle doesn't feel unnatural.
Despite the battery pack which is fitted in the floor. You often see a higher floor, but that's not the case in here.
The finishing is very good, you've got your own climate control with a switch,
just like in the A6 and A8. I'm not allowed to show you the boot,
I was allowed to look at it though. There's a low loading floor,
and below that, there's lots of extra room,
because you miss lots of mechanical components.
Then, let's move to the front. Just to look at the cockpit.
We've got the double screens from the A8 and A7, and I'm not allowed to sit behind the wheel.
That's how strict they are, so I'll have to remain on the passenger side.
What can I actually tell you? Well, where Audi's focus lies.
It's in regenerating energy. Audi thinks that if you regenerate energy whilst braking,
you can get further and you can use your range even better. That way, you'll be way more efficient than a petrol car,
which is less efficient when it comes to regenerating.
So what have we done today? We descended from Pikes Peak in Colorado.
We went from 4.300 m high to the start at 2.300 m. Audi has a history with Pikes Peak of course,
with their SportQuattro. Also, Volkswagen took the electric record with their ID R.
But because of the 2 km descend, we've recuperated 10 kWh.
That's a lot. There are plug-in hybrids which are completely charged with that.
Also, compare with the power usage in your house, how long can you power your lights with 10 kWh.
Sure, we've wasted some on stuff like heated seats and aircon, but all of the kinetic energy you lose when you're climbing,
you're able to recuperate by descending again. Audi says it's possible to recuperate 70% of the energy.
That's a lot, so why is that? The regenerative brakes are so strong,
that if you're using them normally, so 95% of the time,
the regenerative braking is enough. It doesn't feel unnatural.
You can then re-use all of the kinetic energy to get further.
You already saw the capacity of the battery rise...
from 60 to 69 percent, because of the descent,
but the actual range went up even more. It went from 140 km to about 241 km.
So how does it do that? First of all, you've got more juice,
so you're able to get further. Also, the range gets calculated...
according to the way you've been driving. Of course, if you've been climbing,
the car knows that's not very economical, so the range will be based on that.
When you descend again and you don't use any power, the range rises again.
That's why it's going to be very important for an electric car...
to put in your destination. Modern systems will know if you'll ascend or descend,
and your range will be dependant on that.
I want to show you this little screen, instead of the mirror.
You can even adjust it, which moves the camera around.
The official launch of this car will be in the very near feature, probably at the end of the summer.
It will become available in the Netherlands in 2019, and they're aiming at €80.000 for the base model.
They will fit a richer trim than other base Audi's, because those are very basic.
You'll always need a lot of options to make it interesting, but they say the e-tron will be fitted with all kinds of stuff.
There will be a problem though, because the low additional taxes will disappear...
above the €50.000. So next year it's 4% additional until €50.000,
above that, it's the full price. Too bad for this e-tron.