A quattro for the future
Audi e-tron quattro – the name says it all. In a new prototype, Audi unites the advantages of the quattro drive with the possibilities created by electric mobility.
Wet roads are not exactly the favourite surface of drivers. Water on the road decreases visibility, increases the braking distance and reduces grip on bends. But this can also be an advantage, for example on test circuits such as Handling Course II at the Audi testing track in Neustadt, where rainy weather can be simulated.
In conditions like this, a well-tuned all-wheel drive (especially if it bears the name quattro) has an innate advantage. However, the totally normal looking Audi A5 that is parked at the entrance to Handling II is not just called quattro, but Audi e-tron quattro.
Dr. Michael Korte, Head of Pre-Development - Vehicle Concepts at Audi, views the most important quality of the prototype as being “that, with the Audi e-tron quattro, we are uniting sportiness and efficiency in a new and exciting way.” Project Manager Martin Schüssler puts this achievement down to one simple thing. “We left out the propeller shaft and have coiled an electric motor round the rear differential.”
In principle, this is correct but in practice the situation is somewhat more complicated. The Audi e-tron quattro employs a parallel hybrid drive with an added electric rear suspension. However, in contrast to the Audi Q5 hybrid quattro, there is no mechanical connection between the front and rear suspension on the Audi e-tron quattro; a second electric motor on the rear suspension turns the Audi e-tron into a quattro.
That’s the theory. In practice, you immediately notice – nothing. The Audi e-tron quattro starts up silently, but the electrically driven rear suspension makes a positive impression as soon as the gears are changed for the first time. The gear change does not cause a jolt as the electric motor comes into action precisely at the moment the power flow is interrupted and this covers up the annoying jolt perfectly. Then the road becomes wet, the sprinklers do their job, the wipers move back and forth across the windscreen at full speed. Again, the vehicle proves to have excellent directional stability – even in bends and at high speeds. Thanks to quattro.
Dr. Michael Korte commented, “Of course, we also wanted to show how enjoyable driving one of our electric cars can be.” Unfortunately, we will have to wait for the fun for a little bit longer: start of production of the Audi e-tron quattro is estimated to be 2014 at the earliest.
