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Added on the 17/12/2018 15:09:33 - Copyright : Auto Moto EN
Electric mobility is becoming dynamic and fascinating, as the Audi e-tron GT proves. The four-door coupé, which will be introduced in the market as an RS model at the same time, reinterprets the classic idea of the gran turismo: Its design is highly emotional, the technology revolutionary. Two powerful electric motors provide confident electric all-wheel drive and stunning road performance.
Roughly a year since the first series production Audi with electric drive made its debut at the same location: The Audi e-tron was still covered in camouflage wrapping foil at that point. The brand with the four rings is now giving an advance look at a further automobile with an all-electric drive at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show: The Audi Q4 e-tron concept is a compact four-door SUV with an exterior length of 4.59 meters whose relation to the Audi e-tron is apparent at first glance.Two electric motors mobilize 225 kW of system power in the Q4 e-tron concept. As is typical for Audi, the driving power of the concept vehicle is brought to the road with quattro all-wheel drive. Thanks to excellent traction, it accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.3 seconds. It reaches its maximum speed at an electronically limited 180 km/h. A large battery with a capacity of 82 kilowatt hours takes up almost the entire space in the underbody area between the axles. The range of over 450 kilometers - in line with the WLTP standard - sets the benchmark in its class. The technology of the Q4 e-tron concept controls the modular electrification platform (MEB) that will be integrated in numerous electric vehicles produced by the Volkswagen Group in the future, from the compact class to the superior medium-size class.The Audi Q4 e-tron concept gives an advance look at what will already be the fifth series production electric vehicle that the manufacturer will introduce by the end of 2020. Sales of the Audi e-tron have already started, and the first vehicles will be delivered to the customers before the end of March 2019. Later in 2019, the Audi e-tron Sportback will be presented, and the Audi Q2L e-tron, which was designed specifically for the Chinese market, will roll off the assembly line. The presentation of the production version of the four-door high-performance coupé Audi e-tron GT, which is being developed at Audi Sport GmbH, is planned for the second half of 2020. The compact Audi Q4 e-tron is to make its production debut at the same time. With this offer, Audi now covers all important market segments with all-electric drive vehicles, from the A segment to the full-size class, just under two years after the launch of the first electric car.
The brand with the four rings entered the electric era with the start of production of the Audi e-tron in the Brussels plant. The tradition-steeped production site was first extensively modernized and is now one of the most modern production sites for electric models in Europe. The electric drives are supplied by Audi’s own engine production plant in Győr, and the Brussels location has set up its own battery manufacturing facility. Many experiences from the production of the e-tron in Brussels are now being incorporated in the new BEV projects and the establishment of further production sites for electric vehicles.For the production of future electric models, Audi is relying on a high level of flexibility and valuable synergies within the Group: For example, the PPE platform (Premium Platform Electric) for the large electric cars was developed in cooperation with Porsche. The aim is to produce the PPE models at existing locations. The vehicle concept is based on the standardized plant structures and can be transferred to other factories quickly.Audi is also relying on synergy effects for the smaller models on the basis of the MEB platform (modular electrification platform): The production model of Audi Q4 e-tron concept, an electric SUV in the A segment, will roll off the assembly line at the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau, together with models from the VW and SEAT brands. Bundling the platforms in production this way enables the future large-volume electric models to be produced in large quantities and with great efficiency. The most important parts of the MEB models are made in the Group’s component plants, mainly in Kassel (drive modules), Salzgitter (electric motor parts) and Brunswick (batteries and suspension parts).Preparations for the production model of Audi e-tron GT concept, which will roll off the assembly line in the Böllinger Höfe near Neckarsulm together with the Audi R8 as of the end of 2020, are also already underway. While the high-performance sports car with a combustion engine is still made predominantly by hand, the electric Gran Turismo is to be manufactured with a higher degree of automation in the body shop. Both models pass through the same assembly, which is currently being expanded by 20 cycles to 36 cycles, as well as an overhead conveyor. Specific electric elements of the vehicle, such as the battery system, the drive or the thermal management, are prepared in special pre-assemblies and installed on the assembly line as a finished module.The plug-in hybrids are produced in the same locations as their respective product lines: For example the Audi Q5 TFSI e in San José Chiapa (Mexico) and the Audi A7 TFSI e in Neckarsulm. Audi is currently making two electrified models in local production in China: the A6 L e-tron and the Q2 L e-tron; the Audi e-tron will follow as of 2020.
Audi is systematically and comprehensively continuing its electric car offensive. At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the brand is showing four all-electric drive vehicles, the series versions of which will celebrate their premiere by the end of 2020. In addition, four new plug hybrid versions as a world premiere and the fully electric Formula E race car Audi e-tron FE05 will be displayed on the Audi stand – which consists exclusively of electrically driven cars this year. The Audi Q4 e-tron concept and the European debut of the Audi e-tron GT concept were unveiled at the press conference at the Audi stand in hall 1.
The lights on an Audi have long provided more than just safety. They represent the interface between design and technology and they have an authoritative impact on every Audi model’s visual appearance. That is particularly distinct in the exterior design of the e-tron GT quattro and RS e-tron GT – headlights and taillights are defining elements of these models.
Eleven antennas, all of them are invisibly integrated into the car, connect the e-tron GT with the outside world. They receive and transmit audio, LTE, Bluetooth, and GPS signals, and thereby connect the fully electric gran turismo to the environment and its owner in many different ways.
You need powerful thermal management for high and reproducible output. In the e-tron GT, there are two coolant circuits for the technical components operating on different temperature levels. The cooler one controls the temperature of the high-voltage battery and the warmer one serves the electric motors and power electronics. Plus, there’s a cold circuit and a heating circuit for the interior, which I suppose your race car doesn’t have.Prediction is important in our case, too, albeit on a different level. We use a special functional feature to ensure that the driver can charge the battery with utmost capacity during a trip. When the car travels a longer distance with active navigation, the e-tron route planner issues suggestions of where to charge the battery. About half an hour before the car arrives at the selected charging station, the thermal management system starts adjusting the temperature of the battery to precisely match its state of charge and the charging station’s capacity.
Platform J1's purpose will be to underpin the sportiest, highest-performance EVs from Audi. Audi's first effort on this platform will be the E-Tron GT, which was previewed in concept form at last year's LA Auto Show. The E-Tron GT will be a bit more sedate, putting out just 590 hp from the electric motors mounted on each axle. It also picks up a few unique tricks, like all-wheel steering, as well as an 800-volt architecture that can result in some seriously fast charging times (think 200 miles in 20 minutes). The E-Tron GT probably won't be the only Audi on the J1 platform. The automaker mentioned that J1 can offer several tiers of performance, which means we could very well see an electric successor to the R8 supercar on this platform, although the automaker hasn't confirmed anything to that end just yet.
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