Audi E-Tron Detroit concept - Car Design News

http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/home/design_reviews/display/store4/item190429/[18-07-2012 15:14:16]

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The 2010 Detroit E-Tron concept. Click for larger images

Audi's Detroit E-Tron concept featured a lighter, more compact platformand a new aesthetic

E-Tron's fluid sufacing informs a forthcoming 'R4' sized model

LED head and taillamp details

The first R8 based Audi E-Tron concept wasunveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show

E-Tron of a different color: the 2009 LosAngeles concept was identical to the 2009

Frankfurt show car, but painted orange

Forthcoming Audi A1 E-Tron from Geneva

Design Review: Audi E-Tron Detroit conceptby Guy Bird 30 Mar 2010

To ensure its ongoing dream of becomingthe biggest prestige carmaker in the worldAudi has realized it must have a credibleelectric powertrain strategy. But unlike othermarques Audi also believes it needs toestablish a clear sub-brand and identity forits electric vehicles. This explains the recentflurry of E-Tron-badged concepts, a namethat Audi CEO Rupert Stadler hopes in time will become as synonymous with EVsas 'Quattro' has become for its all-wheel drive vehicles. As he recently suggested,"customers will say, 'my car is an E-Tron', not 'my car is electric'".

The first E-Tron – showing how an R8-sized electric supercar might look – wasrevealed at the 2009 Frankfurt motorshow last autumn, and an E-Tron basedon the forthcoming A1 supermini wasunveiled at 2010's Geneva show. Butarguably the most visually interesting ofthe three shown so far is the E-Tronunveiled at the 2010 NAIAS in Detroit.Featuring a lightweight aluminum andcarbon fiber-reinforced plastic bodypowered by two electric motors and alithium-ion battery pack located behindthe passenger compartment and aheadof the rear axle, it tips the scales at just1350kg.

Annoyingly undifferentiated by namefrom the Frankfurt E-Tron other than thelocation in which it was revealed – an'E-Tron 2' number plate was apparentlyreadied and then rejected – the ‘DetroitE-Tron' is also a two-seater sportscar.However, at 3930mm long, it is 290mmshorter than the Frankfurt E-Tron,110mm narrower at 1780mm and 10mmlower measuring just 1220mm tall. Itswheelbase is 2430mm, 220mm shorterthan an R8 and thus could signal apotential future ‘R4-sized' production carsitting between the TT and the R8 interms of price.

Despite the closeness of the two showcars in timing and to some extent initialappearance, Audi says the duo weredeveloped separately and in the DetroitE-Tron's case very quickly too. Indeed,as Steve Lewis, manager of conceptexterior design in Audi's Munich studio,tells Car Design News: "We had beenthinking about this project for a year buthead of design Wolfgang Egger gave usthe green light in the middle ofSeptember 2009 so it took only 14weeks."

The concept was created under theleadership of concept design studiomanager Carsten Monnerjan. Projectleader was Steve Lewis, with WolfSeebers (exterior), Florian Flatau(interior), Simona Falcinella (color and

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Audi E-Tron Detroit concept - Car Design News

http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/home/design_reviews/display/store4/item190429/[18-07-2012 15:14:16]

Small cameras aft of the A-pillars replace conventional mirrors (left);Intricate wheel design (right)

Exterior sketch by Steve Lewis

Grille's air intakes are closed flush for betteraerodynamics in normal driving situations

The design team with Walter de'Silva

© 2012 Car Design News Ltd

trim), plus exterior design support andwheel design by Patrick Dorenbeck. Thebuild itself was carried out by localGerman specialist Uedelhoven.

The Detroit E-Tron was built on afabricated chassis and Audi SpaceFrame (ASF) technology using manycomponents from the R8 but the DetroitE-Tron has a softer and arguably moreelegant look than the more angularFrankfurt E-Tron. The front facecontinues the close-together horizontal-slatted grille of the Frankfurt E-Tron andpushes the Audi logo onto the hood. Innormal driving the air intakes in the grilleare closed flush for better aerodynamicsand a low drag coefficient and onlyopen when air is required for cooling.Similar flaps on the vents behind the C-pillars do the same. These designelements are specific to Audi's electric vehicles.

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