Audi confirms pure electric car, will likely be based on VW Up! concept

With an electric MINI Cooper just around the bend, a Twin Drive hybrid Volkswagen landing in 2010 and Chevrolet's Volt rolling into showrooms in a matter of months, Audi's ten-year plan is looking a little awkward. Though we've yet to hear that it's actually speeding things up, Peter Schwarzenbauer, who sits on the management board at Ingolstadt, recently confirmed that the company would be offering "a pure electric car" sometime in the future. Additionally, rumors of it being based on the A1 were dashed, opening the door for speculation that it will instead be built around the VW Up! (Lupo) concept. Here's hoping we find our prior to 2018.

[Via Autoblog]

[Matt @ Oct 8th 2008 12:38PM]

are the front wheels bigger than the rear?

[bob sakamano @ Oct 8th 2008 1:06PM]

no i think its the same thing as the "new xbox 360" illusion.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/25/slimmer-xbox-360-spied-in-the-wild/

[Flashpoint @ Oct 8th 2008 12:39PM]

That looks TERRIBLE.

I never liked the PRius but I'll admit that the latest Prius looks like a BENZ in comparison to this crate.

[who? @ Oct 8th 2008 12:39PM]

LOL, I wouldn't mind driving it!

[lowdef @ Oct 8th 2008 12:43PM]

looks like a nissan cube + golf

not a good combo

[bangladeshiluv @ Oct 8th 2008 1:10PM]

this thing looks like something you'd stick in your hoohah

[happy_penguin @ Oct 8th 2008 1:58PM]

I don't think it looks that bad. It's kinda cute although I'm certain it's too small for me. It's way better looking than the current ugly ass Prius. But that's not much of a fair comparison anyway.

[macserv @ Oct 8th 2008 8:30PM]

Only GM seems to realize that an electric car doesn't have to look like a freaking toy, or a sneaker. It's like every other auto designer's brain has a hardwired link from "electric" to "Fisher Price".

[happy_penguin @ Oct 8th 2008 9:07PM]

"bangladeshiluv @ Oct 8th 2008 1:10PM

this thing looks like something you'd stick in your hoohah"

Well, it does run on batteries....

[BigD145 @ Oct 8th 2008 12:43PM]

What's with all these lengthy showroom to street plans? Just make some and start rolling them out for sale. No leasing crap. No 10 year delays. Are you a car company that makes cars or are you a car company that makes "concepts" based on 100+ year old tech?

[bob sakamano @ Oct 8th 2008 12:45PM]

nice rim job

[glompix @ Oct 8th 2008 1:23PM]

That's what she said!

[Joe @ Oct 8th 2008 1:45PM]

Thats what she said.

[Paul @ Oct 8th 2008 12:45PM]

Looks to me like the front wheels have the electric motor inside of the wheel. Anyone who knows about the dynamics of the unsprung mass knows how retarded this approach is in terms of ride quality and control.

[happy_penguin @ Oct 8th 2008 1:56PM]

It says nothing of the sort in the link. You're making assumptions.

[bangladeshiluv @ Oct 8th 2008 1:09PM]

DAYUM! check out them DUBS!

[SteveJ @ Oct 8th 2008 1:24PM]

We really need to see one of these cars become available. I'm worried these will all be just for show and when push comes to shove they'll end up saying, "We don't think people will be willing to plug them in", then send the prototypes to the shredder. I was hoping to see Tesla's low-end EV, but now that I've learned that that plan hinges on working with a major manufacturer, I'm not sure it will ever happen. Perhaps Pininfarina will come through with the B0. I hope so, and I I hope they bring it to the US.

[Cybergypsy @ Oct 8th 2008 1:25PM]

I find that a cute car, but my 08 mini is getting 42 MPG so not complaining too much

[required @ Oct 8th 2008 1:39PM]

I don't believe you as its stated MPG is only 22 city, 30 highway

[Andir3.0 @ Oct 8th 2008 2:25PM]

Not all MPG ratings are accurate. I have an '08 MX5 that I get anywhere between 30-35 MPG with and it's rated at 20-28 or thereabouts. My old '04 RX8 was the opposite though. I couldn't break 20 MPG going downhill.

[David Morgenstern @ Oct 8th 2008 1:25PM]

Hey, what's this "Chevrolet's Volt rolling into showrooms in a matter of months?"

Hmmm ... maybe a fact check is in order. There's no official ship date for the Volt other than "2010," which everyone understands isn't solid either.

[From My Cube @ Oct 8th 2008 1:33PM]

well it really is in months, its a bad way to say it....


you could also say any minute now...as eventually it will roll in

[Joel @ Oct 8th 2008 1:45PM]

Why must these electric cars all look like freakin' clown cars? I expect more from Audi...

[zed @ Oct 8th 2008 1:46PM]

2018?UUntil then...Hasta la vista Schwarzenbauer...

[fanman @ Oct 8th 2008 2:00PM]

I still don't understand why electric cars are any less polluting than ones that run directly on fossil fuels.

[Andir3.0 @ Oct 8th 2008 2:26PM]

It has to do with the fact that electric power plants can have huge exhaust scrubbers to remove pollutants from the emissions. Cars don't have this.

[rcappo @ Oct 8th 2008 2:50PM]

Also, most power plants aren't downtown. The big cities with major pollution problems have lots of people living and driving downtown. And if a nuclear, solar, or wind power facility is build, all of the electric cars just became less polluting over night with no effort needed by the car owners.

And when these are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic or are stopped at red lights, there is no idling.

[fnc @ Oct 8th 2008 2:52PM]

Your gas car uses most of the energy in a gallon of gas ~just~ to heat the area under the hood of your car, while also requiring the addition of a complex cooling system just to keep the engine from melting back into a solid hunk of metal. And then there's friction lost in the pistons, crank, etc. So by the time your gas car has gone a mile, it will have expended considerably more energy and thus generated considerably more pollution than an electric car. Not to mention that an electric car has the potential to be powered by a clean source of electricity, indeed by any source of electricty. Options ftw.

[BigD145 @ Oct 8th 2008 2:54PM]

They are less polluting on the west coast of the US because we use more solar/wind/geothermal/water generation. On the east coast it's a case of breaking even with the coal plants. In the long and short run, you're still saving money.

[Dalcébolus @ Oct 8th 2008 3:18PM]

Are you serious? They don't go around emitting toxic gases. Simple.

"Oh, but to generate electricity we burn coal so now we will have to burn more coal and it will be more polluting and blablabla"

Wrong.

1. If you live in a country full of these coal-based plants or oil-based plants... You should know there are other countries that try not to destroy our atmosphere. So no, the power needed to charge batteries won't be supplied by burning more coal or oil.
2. Even if you have to burn more coal, because you live in a country that doesn't care about fscking us all just to meet its energy demand, then it will still be better, because one big coal-to-electricity plant, or oil-to-electricity plant is sooo much more efficient than thousands of tiny oil based engines.

Then, to make things even better, you just have to change one obsolete coal-based generator for, say, a solar power plant and, voilá, nice sharp cuts in pollution.

"The batteries are dangerous and kill kitten"
At least you _can_ track and dispose of worn out batteries. What can anyone do about the gases that come out of the exhaust nowadays?

So there are no excuses to hold this.

[naz @ Oct 8th 2008 3:16PM]

the seamless doors look quite cool and the hidden door handle looks pretty cool aswell

[AgentAaron @ Oct 8th 2008 3:36PM]

The guy in front of it is holding his stomach....perhaps just looking at it is making him sick as well??

I own two Volkswagens and would never buy this

[Carlos Raúl @ Oct 8th 2008 3:49PM]

Is that a mirror or an antenna???

Anyway, I would love to get my hands on an electric car.
Countries like the one I live in (Paraguay) should seriously consider subventioning this kind of cars, since we don't have oil but we DO have electricity, and a lot (Itaipu and Yasyreta dams).

[Dalcébolus @ Oct 8th 2008 11:29PM]

Yes, and that way we could start making some use of all that hydro power we are forced to give for almost free. Go EVs go!

[Mark @ Oct 8th 2008 4:19PM]

About time that an electric car coming out will look decent.

I just need to see the range/speed of this thing before I consider it.

[exNewt @ Oct 8th 2008 8:00PM]

I've said it many times, and I'll say it again. the 'sine qua non' for an electric car to succeed will be if the battery modules are standardized and easily removable; in fact DESIGNED to be removable. That way, if you are low you pull into a "filling station" an attendant pops one out and pops in a fully-charged one.

The one you dropped off is put into a charging rack (along with dozens of others) so it can be reused when recharged in an hour or so. Large warehouses (this is run by the oil companies after all, so they could use their existing gas station and distribution center infrastructure) would carry extra packs so if a "filling station" was getting low on fully-charged packs, they could call up and order more.

The number of battery modules a vehicle carries is dependent on size/cargo space: a small 2-person commuter car has 2 packs, while the larger truck or family van uses 8-10.

This way "recharges;' are as quick or quicker than filling a gas tank, the batteries are easily removed at end of life without disassembling the car, and smaller pack give some design creativity (i.e. not one ginormous pack amidships) and the weight can be distributed for better handling.

[Jim @ Nov 9th 2008 12:23PM]

"Chevrolet's Volt is rolling into showrooms in a matter of months"? GM lost $2 billion last month and is begging for federal aid to stay afloat so it can roll out the first of its Volts in late 2010 for an estimated $40K a piece. Sure. This is going to happen. Right.