Brabus added its own touches to this Tesla Roadster.
(Credit: CNET)
As is becoming common at auto shows these days, a number of electric cars were on display at the Frankfurt auto show, with automakers showing off research into next millennium's generation of vehicles. On hand were concepts from Peugeot, Renault, Audi, Volkswagen, and Ford. Two entrants from Tesla were on hand, one a Roadster tuned up by Brabus, the only current production car available out of this lot, and the other the upcoming Model S, expected to begin production in 2011.
Audi shows off its e-tron electric sports car concept at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show.
(Credit: CNET)The most exciting concept shown at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show is an electric sports car, the Audi e-tron. Borrowing body lines from the Audi R8, it can't help but look good. And boasting specs like 3,319 pound-feet of torque, it can't help but make gearheads drool.
Audi achieves that torque number by using four electric motors, one at each wheel. The drooling gearheads should be able to close their mouths again after hearing that the combined horsepower is only 313, making for a zero to 62 mph time of 4.8 seconds. But electric car enthusiasts will be happy to hear that the e-tron's range is 154 miles.
The four electric motors meant that Audi could design a virtual Quattro all-wheel-drive system, integrating the power distribution program with vehicle dynamics sensors. By default, the rear motors deliver 70 percent of the torque, the high number compensating for the 58 percent weight distribution to the rear wheels. But as conditions dictate, the power software can give any wheel greater or less power, which should make for incredible road-holding, beyond even Audi's current Quattro system.
A two-seater, the cabin is relatively simple, featuring a minimum of controls and gauges. The car's navigation and communication electronics are designed to communicate with external roads infrastructure, receiving information about traffic and green lights, for example, and adjusting routes accordingly to maximize driving efficiency.
The Audi e-tron might sound like a serious competitor to the Tesla Roadster, but the Tesla has one huge advantage: it's already in production.
Audi is joining other German automakers in the effort to eliminate exhaust emissions, promising to bring an electric model to market in the next 10 years.
Rupert Stadler, Audi's chairman and chief executive, said in an interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag published Sunday that he expects battery technology to dominate in the coming five to 10 years.
"By then we will offer cars without exhaust emissions," Reuters quoted Stadler as saying. "Electric cars offer great opportunities, which we have already seized on."
Reducing vehicle emissions is a chief concern for automakers in Germany. BMW recently showed off a hydrogen-powered 7-series sedan at the 2008 SAE World Congress in Detroit that actually emits less carbon monoxide than are found in the air around it.
At last year's Frankfurt auto show, Mercedes showed off a number of diesel-electric hybrid concept cars that are scheduled for production in 2010 as well as its Diesotto engine, which uses turbo charging, direct injection, and diesel-like compression to maximize power and fuel economy.
Luxury German automakers are likely to be among the hardest hit by new European Commission legislation for stricter emissions and fuel efficiency standards, and consequently have been making efforts to find more efficient versions of their performance-focused lineups.
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