Audi e-tron: With 4,500Nm of torque, it's one electrifying car

By Andy Hum

HOW NICE IT would be to drive around in an environmentally friendly car that will easily shame the fastest Italian exotics on the road. That scenario isn’t far away, at least according to various reports on the web, which have claimed that foreign Audi representatives have confirmed that the Audi e-tron electric car (that produces an insane 4,500Nm of torque) is headed for production and will be ready by 2012. While Audi Singapore said “there is no official confirmation yet”, its managing director did mention that the car could be ready by 2012. If it were to be built.

CarBuyer talks to Reinhold Carl, managing director of Audi Singapore about the future of electric vehicles and if Singapore was ready for them.

CarBuyer: In the press release for the Audi e-tron, it’s stated that the German Ministry for Education and Research will be providing “eight-figure funding” towards a programme for the development of an integrated concept for electric drives in automobiles. Would that be a strong vote of confidence from the German government for Audi’s electric vehicle programme?

Reinhold Carl: The Volkswagen group is still very strong in the downturn and even increased its market share, especially the Audi brand. Increased efficiency is the goal at Audi and in many areas we are leading the industry in sustainable mobility.

Audi spends about 2 billion Euros out of its cashflow on R&D each year. We are proud that we are very competitive and we earn our money through our products, but support from the government, not just financial, is still welcome. It’s a support of technologies that will ensure the competitiveness of German cars.

CB: Do you think customers in Singapore are ready for electric vehicles (EVs), if the infrastructure is ready?

RC: I think a city-state where you have relatively short travel distances would be able to embrace electric car technology faster than a larger country like Germany. It’s easier to introduce it here than in countries like France or the US. With all new technologies, acceptance will not be overnight, though. We are currently in a phase where a large number of people are still not sensitive to environmental concepts. But, in fact, eco-friendly technology is actually an asset when people buy a car. Right now, most people care more about individuality and lifestyle choices when buying a car.

With the e-tron, we have created a concept study that has real technology that could one day potentially be used in series production.

CB: Why is the industry moving towards electric cars, instead of other forms of alternative propulsion using alternative fuels, like hydrogen?

RC: Carmakers are working on many different possibilities because no one can foresee technical development for sure. There is also diesel technology, which has a lot of potential. In 2000, we released the Audi A2. It combined a lightweight aluminium body shell and three-cylinder turbodiesel engine. We don’t just talk about different technology, we actually look to production as well. You also have to consider factors such as manufacturing processes, fuel production and storage, and recycling among other things. All these elements influence how sustainable a technology or solution is to the environment. That’s where Audi is leading.

Hydrogen cars are available in the Volkswagen Group but a breakthrough is not likely in the foreseeable future. If the infrastructure for such cars is in place, Volkswagen and Audi are capable of delivering hydrogen cars. Right now, the infrastructure for electric cars is more realistic than for hydrogen vehicles.

It took 10 to 15 years for the concept of hybrid to reach public discussion, despite the fact that Audi had unveiled a hybrid way back in 1989. The lesson here is that infrastructure and costs must be effective and affordable for the public. If the production of new technologies is introduced before its time, then the market is not ready and customers will not be receptive towards the concept.