If only we had the resources, time, money and staff to do a super rapid turn around and release an episode about this. We’ve had very little time but hopefully in the next few months we will get to do a test drive.
But this is what I know.
So, we’ve driven the Audi e-Tron, big, luxury SUV.
We more recently drove the Audi e-Tron Sportback. A big, luxury SUV.
Now Audi have just released the Audi e-Tron GT QUATTRO and RS E-TRON GT.
This is a big luxury Grand Tourer.
This is what you want to be in as you pull up in front of a casino in Monaco.
They are both being delivered from spring 2021 according to Audi, which I imagine means in a couple of months.
Regular viewers of Fully Charged will probably know that we try not to get too worked up about very expensive high-end performance EVs, but I’m going to be honest with you.
This looks rather special.
The e-tron GT quattro comes with 476PS, which I’m roughly calculating to be around 476 Horse Power in old money. So it’s got a bit of the old poke, the old thrust. It’s got a lot of low end grunt … okay, I’ll shut up.
The RS e-tron GT has 530PS which can be increased to 646PS in ‘boost mode.’
Meaning the car can accelerate from zero to 100 kph (62 mph) in 3.3 seconds. And that’s important … apparently.
Top speeds are governed at 152mph and 155mph respectively.
It has standard all-wheel drive, an 800 volt, 93 kilowatt hour battery pack that can charge at 270 kilowatts.
I suppose I should mention the price… but then if you need to ask, you probably won’t be buying one.
The Audi e-tron GT quattro starts from £79,900 OTR (On The Road), RS e-tron GT from £110,950.
But here’s what interests me, and I admit this is silly but these cars are only 1.41 meters high.
It’s not a massive SUV.
Without question these cars will be beautifully made, they will handle brilliantly, they will have very decent range, they will charge mind numbingly fast if you can use a suitable charger, and they will look absolutely gorgeous.
Of course the world needs smaller, lighter, cheaper, less flashy electric cars but those are coming anyway.
They may not come from the big, established European automakers but what all the new fully electric Porsches, Jaguars, Audis, Mercedes, Volvos, Teslas and BMWs are showing us is that these cars are now mainstream, the owners will hassle for better public charging, the charging infrastructure companies will see a growing market and will install more.
For once, the notion of trickle down technological development has some validity.
So I’m thrilled Audi have released these cars, there’s a lot more coming from them.
Interestingly in their press release, Audi are very transparent about how difficult the last 12 months have been for them. A massive drop in sales but a huge amount of confidence about the new electric vehicles they are launching.
I quote; “By 2025, Audi will offer more than 20 models with all-electric drive in the most important markets worldwide and achieve roughly 40 per cent of its sales with electrified variants. These will of course be underpinned by a range of models with classic layouts covering every relevant market segment from the compact class to the luxury class.”
So, it looks like we will be seeing a lot of Audi test drives on Fully Charged.
