What's all this about?
If you cast your minds back only a few months to the Frankfurt Motor Show of September, you might recall the Audi e-tron quattro concept, a 503hp, 800Nm fully electric SUV that may - or may not - one day become the Q6.
Right, that's a lovely story. But what the hell are you telling me it for?
Because this is the Audi h-tron quattro concept, a fully electric SUV.
H-tron?
H for hydrogen. Audi has junked the three electric motors of the e-tron and replaced them with two more modest units (one on each axle) and a hydrogen fuel cell as the power source that feeds them. This fuel cell delivers 110kW, while the battery on board can add a boost of a further 100kW (136hp) if required. The two electric motors develop 122hp (front) and 190hp (rear), leading to a theoretical maximum (and temporary) output of 412hp - or 312hp without the battery's boost.
What does this mean for economy and range?
Apparently, the h-tron can do around 373 miles on a tank of hydrogen and its resources of said fuel can be replenished in four minutes, making it much more like a conventional car to run day-to-day than a full electric vehicle.
And what's the performance like?
Only the 0-62mph time is quoted, with Audi saying the h-tron does the sprint in 'less than seven seconds'. That's pretty fast, although it's some way off the 4.6 seconds of the e-tron.
Will the h-tron make production?
Unlikely for now, as we know Audi is prioritising the EV e-tron first; that's due to be on sale by 2018. Many do believe, though, that hydrogen is the long-term solution to range anxiety and the (current) impracticalities of charging electric cars, so we could see something like it in the 2020s.
Matt Robinson - 11 Jan 2016