The Audi e-tron, whose only shared component with the look-alike Audi R8 are the halfshafts, will at some point have company in the luxury electric sports car segment in the form of Mercedes' electric-version SLS gullwing (and no, I never thought I'd be writing those words).
This armada of electron-burners will not be diffident, under-baked beta-testers. No asterisks they. These will be -- they have to be -- fully fledged Nissans, Mercedes and VWs, built to these companies' exacting standards and sold at a price that economizes their global scale.
"Do you hear something, Elon?"
"Don't be silly, Henrik. It's just the wind."
Let's stipulate that Tesla and Fisker are fine companies with great people and ideas, and a not-inconsiderable $1 billion in public money between them. Both companies' business plans call for using the glamour of a sporty halo car (the Tesla Roadster and Fisker Karma) to build brand cachet and help fund development of more attainable, real-world cars: Tesla's Model S and Fisker's Nina.
While the majors were sitting on the sidelines, these electric car wildcatters could reasonably expect success.
But now the majors are coming fast. And the Audi e-tron, which took Ingolstadt all of nine months to build, insists that we reconsider the viability of these low-volume upstarts in light of their highly resourced imperial competitors.
The burn-in-hell red e-tron that Audi made available for test drives near Point Magu last week was last seen in September on the turnstile at the Frankfurt Auto Show. Typically, show cars are pretty hollow on the inside. Not this time.
The e-tron's alloy space-frame is production-ready; the adaptive climate- and visibility-sensing LED headlamps and taillamps work; the electric door closures and windows work; the motion-sensing door handles operate; the instrument console is already near production; the unique heat-pump system (to provide cabin warmth) is installed. The car's MMI (Man-Machine Interface) is already roughed in, with the liquid crystal display levitating out of the instrument console when the car is started.
The last Audi that was this cool was upstaging Will Smith in the movie "I Robot."
Among its many party tricks, the e-tron has a kind of morph-able exterior skin that changes shape to optimize aerodynamics and battery cooling as needed. When the batteries need a breeze, the clear acrylic panel over the front grille recedes into the grille opening, allowing fresh air in. Likewise, the flexible aluminum comb over the rear deck rises up to form a ram-air intake duct. That is just wicked, man.
