The Audi e-tron Produces Up To 402 Horsepower – But There’s A Catch

Ahead of its official reveal in September, Audi has released technical specifications for the electric e-tron SUV.

The long-awaited reveal of the Audi e-tron was originally supposed to happen in just a few weeks on August 20, but the event has been pushed back until September 17 after Audi’s CEO was put behind bars for tampering with evidence relating to the VW Dieselgate scandal. With the reveal date now set, Audi has released the all-important technical specifications for its first-ever electric SUV. Two electric motors combine to produce an output of 355 horsepower 414 lb-ft of torque. These motors can deliver this peak performance for up to 60 seconds, enabling the e-tron to accelerate from a standstill to an electronically limited top speed 124.3 mph several times without a loss of power.

There’s also a boost mode, activated by shifting the gear lever from D to S and fully depressing the accelerator pedal, that increases the output up to 402 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque, but it’s only available for eight seconds. According to Audi, 0-62 mph takes less than six seconds.

But EV buyers are more likely to be concerned with range than performance. As such, Audi claims the e-tron will deliver a driving range of more than 248.5 miles on a single charge based on the WLTP test cycle. This doesn’t offer much of an advantage over its key competitors, the Tesla Model X and Jaguar I-Pace, that offer similar ranges, but Audi is hoping the e-tron’s innovative recuperation system will make up for this by being more efficient than its competitors.

The recuperation system contributes up to 30 percent of the electric SUV’s range and uses the two electric motors and an electrohydraulically integrated brake control system. Three different recuperation modes are combined: manual coasting recuperation using the shift paddles, automatic coasting recuperation via the predictive efficiency assist, and brake recuperation with smooth transition between electric and hydraulic deceleration.

To demonstrate how this works, Audi tested the e-tron prototype’s recuperation system at Pikes Peak where the SUV went downhill for 19 miles and fed “so much energy back to the battery that it can cover approximately the same distance again.” The Audi e-tron prototype recuperates energy with up to 221.3 lb-ft of torque and 220 kW of electric power – more than 70 percent of its operating energy input, which “no series production model has achieved such a value up to now” according to Audi.

You Can Order The Audi e-tron quattro Right Now - But There's A Catch

And like with Tesla, these buyers don't even know the final price.

Audi is clearly taking this whole EV thing very seriously, as it’s just announced that it’s begun taking reservations for the production version of the e-tron quattro concept from 2015, according to Electrek. There’s a catch, however. This pre-order applies only to those living in Norway, a country well-known for its love of EVs. Taking a page right out of Tesla’s pre-order playbook, Audi won’t even tell these interested, EV-loving Norwegian customers the SUV’s final sticker price.

But a 20,000 kroner ($2,500) deposit is still required to reserve one. As we previously reported, Audi has decided to axe the Q7 e-tron in favor of building a completely unique all-electric crossover instead, and the e-tron quattro concept fits the bill nicely. It’ll supposedly have a 310-mile range thanks to its 95 kWh battery pack, thus making it competitive against Tesla’s most expensive Model S and Model X trims. In terms of overall dimensions, expect the e-tron quattro to slot between the Q5 and Q7. But what could really be an industry shaker is the possible base price. For example, the Q5 and Q7, as Electrek also points out, start off at $41,000 and $49,000, respectively.

If Audi were to give the e-tron quattro a similar starting MSRP, then it’d seriously undermine the Tesla Model X, which only begins at $74,000, before tax incentives. No word as to when Audi will begin offering pre-orders for the rest of the world, but we imagine it’ll get underway relatively soon because e-tron quattro production is expected to begin later this year.

The Audi e-tron Produces Up To 402 Horsepower – But There’s A Catch

Ahead of its official reveal in September, Audi has released technical specifications for the electric e-tron SUV.

The long-awaited reveal of the Audi e-tron was originally supposed to happen in just a few weeks on August 20, but the event has been pushed back until September 17 after Audi’s CEO was put behind bars for tampering with evidence relating to the VW Dieselgate scandal. With the reveal date now set, Audi has released the all-important technical specifications for its first-ever electric SUV. Two electric motors combine to produce an output of 355 horsepower 414 lb-ft of torque. These motors can deliver this peak performance for up to 60 seconds, enabling the e-tron to accelerate from a standstill to an electronically limited top speed 124.3 mph several times without a loss of power.

There’s also a boost mode, activated by shifting the gear lever from D to S and fully depressing the accelerator pedal, that increases the output up to 402 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque, but it’s only available for eight seconds. According to Audi, 0-62 mph takes less than six seconds.

But EV buyers are more likely to be concerned with range than performance. As such, Audi claims the e-tron will deliver a driving range of more than 248.5 miles on a single charge based on the WLTP test cycle. This doesn’t offer much of an advantage over its key competitors, the Tesla Model X and Jaguar I-Pace, that offer similar ranges, but Audi is hoping the e-tron’s innovative recuperation system will make up for this by being more efficient than its competitors.

The recuperation system contributes up to 30 percent of the electric SUV’s range and uses the two electric motors and an electrohydraulically integrated brake control system. Three different recuperation modes are combined: manual coasting recuperation using the shift paddles, automatic coasting recuperation via the predictive efficiency assist, and brake recuperation with smooth transition between electric and hydraulic deceleration.

To demonstrate how this works, Audi tested the e-tron prototype’s recuperation system at Pikes Peak where the SUV went downhill for 19 miles and fed “so much energy back to the battery that it can cover approximately the same distance again.” The Audi e-tron prototype recuperates energy with up to 221.3 lb-ft of torque and 220 kW of electric power – more than 70 percent of its operating energy input, which “no series production model has achieved such a value up to now” according to Audi.