What's all this about?

At the Monterey Car Week in Pebble Beach, California, Audi is - for the first time at this particular event, showing its growing importance in the minds of automotive manufacturers - going to show off a design and technical concept car. And what a concept car it is.

What is it called?

The Audi PB18 e-tron, its name giving away quite a few things about it. Such as: it's an electric vehicle, hence the 'e-tron' bit of its name; the 'PB' refers to, of course, Pebble Beach, where it makes its debut; and the '18' is not just a nod to the calendar year we're in, but also to the R18 e-tron quattro. Any of you remotely interested in cars will know that the R18 was one of Audi's massively successful Le Mans racers, which won the fabled 24-hour event three years on the trot (2012-2014) as an e-tron and also triumphed in 2011 as an R18 TDI.

OK, so what is the PB18's spec like?

Serious. Developed by Audi Sport GmbH, but designed by the Audi Design Studio in Malibu, California, the PB18 has three electric motors, generating 150kW for the front axle and 350kW for the rear axle. That, in total, is 500kW, which means 680hp - a figure that rises to a whopping 775hp for a time-limited 'boost' period. Backed up by 830Nm, that has to propel less than 1,550kg through quattro all-wheel drive, the PB18 e-tron will run 0-62mph in little more than two seconds - making it almost every bit as quick as an LMP1 prototype. It also has push-rod front, pull-rod rear suspension with adaptive dampers, like a Le Mans racer, and a passenger compartment that can be adapted for road and track.

What do you mean?

For its track configuration, the driver sits centrally in a cockpit designed solely around them. There are no autonomous driving systems nor no needlessly weight-adding comfort toys in the PB18, and the steering and pedals are 'by wire' controls. This means that, when the track session is over, the driver's seat and controls can be slid laterally making enough room for a passenger for the journey back home.

Anything else?

Yes, the PB18 e-tron rolls on 22-inch wheels on 275/35 front and 315/30 rear tyres, which sit in front of 19-inch carbon brake discs. It can go for more than 312 miles on a single charge and its 95kWh battery is capable of 800-volt charging, meaning it can be re-juiced to full power in just 15 minutes.

24 Aug 2018