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  (Source: Autoblog)
Audi continues to refine its vision for electric vehicles

Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen isn't a fan of electric vehicles. As DailyTech has pointed out in the past, de Nysschen has called people that would buy a Chevrolet Volt "idiots" and noted that full electric vehicles are "for the intellectual elite who want to show what enlightened souls they are."

Perhaps de Nysschen should communicate a little more frequently with the product planners within his company because Audi has unveiled yet another all-electric vehicle concept at the Detroit Auto Show. Even more interesting -- and likely to be a thorn in de Nysschen's side -- is that this new concept is looking closer to production then the previous all-electric concepts from Audi.

The new e-tron, according to Autoblog, weighs in at a relatively light (for an all-electric vehicle) 2,976 pounds. In addition, the vehicle features a more production feasible powertrain complements of four hub motors putting out a total of 204 hp. In addition, the vehicle can hit 60 mph in 5.9 seconds and can go for up to 155 miles on a single charge.

Audi previously showed off an "electrified" version of its Audi R8 supercar, the e-tron, which sported electric engines producing a total of 313 hp and an earth moving 3,316 lb-ft of torque. The battery pack alone weighed in at a massive 1,036 pounds.

A production version of the concept you see to your right will be hitting U.S. streets within two years -- someone should get Johan de Nysschen some Tums.

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Naming
By jbartabas on 1/11/2010 4:35:51 PM , Rating: 2
With a name like that, it would be interesting to see the marketing strategy in french speaking countries ...

http://www.wordreference.com/fren/etron




RE: Naming
By murphyslabrat on 1/13/2010 6:59:08 PM , Rating: 2
Kinda like marketting the Chevy Nova in Spanish speaking regions


RE: Naming
By piroroadkill on 1/14/2010 4:33:13 AM , Rating: 2
Hahaha


The bias...
By Reclaimer77 on 1/11/2010 6:33:34 PM , Rating: 1
Ok this is the second article today that's categorized any rational discussion on EV's as an "assault".

Do you guys really need to do this to generate readership ??




RE: The bias...
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 1/12/2010 10:43:57 AM , Rating: 2
Calling potential customers "idiots" is a rational discussion?


RE: The bias...
By Reclaimer77 on 1/12/2010 12:23:24 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah except you also called the BCG study an "assault" as well. I'm assuming nobody was called "idiots" in the BCG study.

Brandon please, let's stop playing games here. Your history of writing on DT clearly points to you being completely in the tank for any alternative fuels, hybrids and electric vehicles. The fact is that YOU personally feel threatened by any discussion or study that points out the flaws in these systems. You want them NOW, and you don't want to hear that we aren't ready.


RE: The bias...
By superflex on 1/13/2010 12:56:14 PM , Rating: 1
I'll stick with Audi. Their cars are superior to anything coming from Asia or America, especially those that run on batteries and unicorn farts.
TDI engines are the future for fuel economy.
And nothing is sweeter than the 4.2 gasoline V8 for driving thrill.
Go to hell Brandon. You're a tool.


That's a pretty car!
By Smartless on 1/11/2010 3:23:26 PM , Rating: 3
Though a few questions...
1) Like the squinting headlights are cool but are they bright?
2) That's a nice grill in the front, but is it necessary? I'm guessing you need at least some cooling for the motor but that's alot of space.
3) Will it turn into an iron suit with cool guns, or will Tony Stark just be driving this version in Iron Man 2?




RE: That's a pretty car!
By Manch on 1/13/2010 10:23:57 AM , Rating: 2
I think Tony Stark will be driving the red car with gold rims. This one belongs to War Machine.


Why?
By amanojaku on 1/11/2010 3:26:10 PM , Rating: 2
Why is Johan de Nysschen being used as a reference, other than the fact that he opened his dumb mouth? As you said he's out of touch with his employers, but more importantly he's not THAT high on the totem pole. He may be president of Audi America, but he reports to Audi AG, which is a division of VW. All of the EV efforts are being driven by VW, so this guy's opinions don't mean much. For starters, VW has 350K+ employees while Audi AG has 50K+ worldwide. Nysschen's territory is QUITE small compared to VW's combined interests.




RE: Why?
By xmichaelx on 1/11/2010 3:51:05 PM , Rating: 2
Disagree. In fact, the only news here IS the Johan de Nysschen quote. When the president in charge of a large, relatively untapped market (in this case, buyers of electric vehicles in the U.S.) calls that market "idiots" it's time for a new president.
quote:
Nysschen's territory is QUITE small compared to VW's combined interests.

But not Audi's. North America is a big place, with lots of consumers.


The difference here is....
By Fenixgoon on 1/11/2010 4:07:17 PM , Rating: 2
that the E-tron is (going to be) an ultra high end electric supercar. It is not supposed to be a mass production vehicle like the Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf, etc. The people who can afford million dollar cars don't care what the price of gasoline is. Only people who trade thousands of dollars up front (the difference between a conventional ICE and a hybrid or pure electric vehicle) for a 5 MPG increase that will have an ROI of ~5-10 years assuming no additional maintenance are the idiots.

If you're rich, and presumably you'd have to be in order to buy an R8 or E-tron, then it doesn't matter.




RE: The difference here is....
By Keeir on 1/13/2010 7:54:17 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Only people who trade thousands of dollars up front (the difference between a conventional ICE and a hybrid or pure electric vehicle) for a 5 MPG increase that will have an ROI of ~5-10 years assuming no additional maintenance are the idiots.


Sigh... you have a good point, but you can leave things where they are.

A Mild Hybrid can decrease Fuel consumption by 20%
A Strong Hybrid can decreased Fuel consumption by 50%
An EV can decrease PAID for Energy by a factor... well its tough, but comparing from the Pump and from the Wall, an Electric car goes 4 times further on the same energy. Gasoline today costs 0.09 cents per kWh

People wanting to buy Hybrids or Electric today are gambling that Fuel prices will rise significantly in the Future. If they do, they win with a much shorter ROI.


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