Audi e-tron Spyder: e-tron family goes roadster

Audi is adding a new concept car to its e-tron family. This time it’s the e-tron Spyder, a roadster version of the e-tron, presented at the 2010 Detroit Motor Show.

The e-tron Spyder concept brings to Paris the plug-in hybrid drive on an open sports car. With 4.06 meters long, 1.81 meters) wide and only 1.11 meters high, the concept car is powered by 221-kW (300 hp) twin-turbo V6 TDI at the rear axle and two electric motors that produce extra 64 kW at the front axle.

With a total weight of approximately 1,450 kilograms and its three engines, the e-tron Spyder shows-off good performance skills, with acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h within 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 250 km/h (electronically controlled). In a process know as “boosting” the concept car is able to combine the torque of the TDI engine and the two electric engines, 650 Nm and 352 Nm respectively.

Thanks to the combination of the two power technologies the e-tron Spyder delivers good fuel economy and low emissions. According to the German brand the concept consumes 2.2 l/100 km, which corresponds to 59 g/km.

The e-tron Spyder is able to run on electric-power-only mode within a range of 50 km and with a top speed of only 60 km/h.

Design

In terms of design the e-tron Spyder shows a reinterpretation of the previous e-tron concept vehicles and it is seen as a provider of initial hints of the four-rings brand future design language.

Compared with the Audi e-tron concept, presented in Detroit, the e-tron spyder had its length and width increased by 13 cm and 3 cm, handling the vehicle a sportier look.

The e-tron Spyder borrows elements from the racing cars, including the frameless side glass surfaces that narrow toward the rear, which creates a unit with the windshield, giving it a look resembling a visor of a helmet. Another one of those elements is the wide central air inlet, which accentuates the dynamics of the car’s front end and links it to the Audi R8 LMS customer race car.

The front-end is dominated by the trapeze-shaped single-frame grille that is sided by two large air intakes. The grille then merges into flat strips of the adaptive matrix beam headlight modules, which feature their three-dimensional clear glass covers that follow the contour of the functional elements. The trademark four rings are located above the single-frame, just as it happens with the R8 and the e-tron sports car concept cars.

The 20-inch wheels are another feature of the e-tron Spyder. The blade design was taken from the first e-tron show car and refined. In now shows a three-dimensional turbine design.