What's all this about?
It's the Audi e-tron quattro concept, an all-electric, aerodynamic SUV displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The most intriguing thing about this is that Audi isn't obfuscating about this car's production viability; this is going to hit the showrooms within three years.
Says who?
No less a bod than Professor Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the Audi board of management for Technical Development, who confirmed: "Audi will present an all-electric, luxury-class sport SUV in early 2018. The Audi e tron quattro concept provides a concrete foretaste of this. It combines driving pleasure with great range, an expressive design and excellent comfort."
Do we know which model number it will be?
Chances are it will be called the Q6, although don't forget Audi is still toying with the idea of spinning the TT nameplate off into its own sub-brand. Could we see some sort of crossover into that?
OK, you're speculating. Tell me more about the e-tron concept.
Powered by three electric motors (one for the front axle, two for the rear), it develops 435hp as standard, rising to 503hp and more than 800Nm for a time-limited 'overboost' phase. That allows the all-wheel drive, four-wheel steer e-tron to do 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds before hitting its electronic speed governor at 130mph. However, it's a hugely aerodynamic car, which helps.
What sort of range are we talking?
More than 312 miles from its 95kWh lithium-ion battery pack, located in the Audi's floor to even out weight distribution and keep the centre of gravity low. Active aero on the front, back and sides of the e-tron quattro concept, as well as adaptive suspension that lowers the car at speeds to reduce drag, sees the Audi turn in a coefficient of drag of just 0.25 - deeply impressive, as most SUVs struggle to get near 0.30.
I see cameras for the door mirrors. Is there other suitably weird, concept car tech on board?
Well, there's stuff that Audi is readying for market or which it already has out there. Like Matrix laser headlights, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in the front lower lamps, rear light clusters and for every display on board and the self-driving tech that Audi has been previewing recently; on this last score, Ingolstadt says a lot of this software is 'nearly ready' for production, so expect semi-autonomous Audis sooner rather than later.
How long does it take to recharge the e-tron?
You can use either AC or DC supply, but find a 150kW DC charging column and the Audi SUV will be back to full range in a reasonable (for an electric car) 50 minutes.
Matt Robinson - 15 Sep 2015