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After Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler clinched the teams' championship title in the season finale in New York City last month, the electro-boffins at Audi have turned their attention to the marque's first all-electric road car - the e-tron.
Due to launch on Septemeber 17, the electric SUV features a nifty boost mode, offering an additional 47bhp for eight seconds, taking the total power up to 402bhp. Similar to the FANBOOST function, which aided Audi's Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt during Season 4 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the e-tron's boost function is accessed through the 'S' drive mode and activated by, well, in short - flooring it. Simple.
With its top speed electronically limited to 200km/h, the e-tron with make it from 0-100km/h in less than six seconds - the same as a petrol-powered 2.0-litre Range Rover Velar. But the e-tron's party piece, honed and developed on the Formula E's city street circuits, is that SUV can extend its range by 30 per cent through energy recuperation. With a total range of 300km, the majority of the energy recuperation is handled by the motors rather than the brakes, meaning the e-tron has the ability to make up kilometres while coasting or on downhill sections. To prove the point, the German automaker managed to add 1km of range for every km travelled down the infamous Pikes Peak road in Colorado, USA.
With two electric motors, the e-tron will feature a 95kWh battery pack, sitting low in the floor of the car for optimal weight distribution. On the charging front, Audi claim the e-tron will be able to recharge at 150kW DC charging stations, filling the battery from flat to 80 per cent full in less than half an hour. How about that, Mr Musk?
With no word on price just yet, we'll have to wait until the covers (and prototype camouflage) come off at the launch on September 17 in the USA. Until then, sit back and watch as Audi's Lucas di Grassi and Daniel Abt battling it out on track in New York City.