Audi's A1 Sportback hybrid concept surfaces

Audi confirmed its pure electric automobile plans earlier this month, and now the automaker's back with yet another green vehicle based on its A1 hybrid concept. In hybrid mode the five door "sportback" (sporty!) will go from 0-62 MPH in 7.9 seconds, reach a top speed of 124 MPH and squeeze up to 72.4 miles from a gallon of fuel. When in electric mode, however, the vehicle will take you more than 60 miles on a single charge. The adjustable drivetrain / drive shaft / shock absorber system allows drivers to choose between two modes: sport mode (for optimum acceleration) and efficiency mode. The latter not only makes best use of the lithium-ion battery but also ties into the vehicle's on-board navigation, taking your route (and the car's altitude) into consideration when computing things like power usage and regeneration phases. The A1 also allows select cellphones to act as a mobile control unit for WLAN access to the vehicle's navigation, audio and remote monitoring of the security system. For more juicy details -- and some pics -- hit that read link.

[Via Inhabitat]

[SNP @ Oct 28th 2008 11:09PM]

hmmm....electric steak sauce

[Matt @ Oct 28th 2008 11:12PM]

That sounds... oddly tasty.

[CP @ Oct 28th 2008 11:16PM]

i have a better chance of owning that car than those wheels do of ever going into production

[Flashpoint @ Oct 28th 2008 11:18PM]

While I like Audi's designs (and lighting) more and more, the car itself pales in comparison to the equivalent BMW in terms of driving and weight distribution. The A4/S4 can't touch a 3/ M3. In fact, Lexus is making better cars than Audi according to reliability.

[BP @ Oct 28th 2008 11:26PM]

Firstly, it's a hybrid! I don't believe it's intending to compete against the likes of the M3. Second, Lexus is tops in reliability OVERALL. Yes, even above that of the precious BMW.

[Flashpoint @ Oct 28th 2008 11:33PM]

Reliability is definitely held high by Lexus.

But Lexus and Audi can't touch a BMW in terms of driver experience.

I'll put my sister's 750 against a LS460 or a A8 any day. That car can outdrive smaller cars. The same goes for the 3 and 5.

her car drives better than my S550.

[Ellianth @ Oct 28th 2008 11:34PM]

And, Molly Wood would say other wise about the reliability of your precious BMW :P.

[Ian @ Oct 28th 2008 11:56PM]

Lexus being safer than Audi, and BMW making better performance cars than Audi isn't even a single comparison. Lexus beats every car in reliability, which implies that they're more reliable than the typical Audi (and BMW).

Flashpoint has compared apples to oranges to bananas in his post. I don't even know what he's trying to compare.

[lowdef @ Oct 29th 2008 12:22AM]

Flashpoint, each car you mentioned aims at completely different experiences. NO ONE has EVER said a lexus ls460 is supposed to be sporty. Hell lexus knows that and they don't try to market it as a sporty car because it simply isn't. BMW- all about driving dynamics, MB- straightline power, audi- all weather/ no one cares, lexus- reliability out the ass/ plush. this isnt supposed to compete with a 3/M3 anyways, nor is it an A4.

[c-dub @ Oct 29th 2008 12:27AM]

Yeah but you Audi has everyone beat in terms of pricing/features..An A4 w/ quattro and a LOADED interior(INCLUDING MMI) is still cheaper than a base 3 series and IS(lexus). All the stuff you pay extra for in stupid packages w/ the other lux makers, you get standard in an Audi. Maybe Acura is close, but Audi has em beat. I have an A4 an Quattro(all wheel drive for the n00bs) saved my life waaay too many times..from 5 and 7 series that are supposes* to be performance machines spinning out in the middle of the road w/ torrential rain..

I've owned a BMW AND MB and Audi is just better to me..I live in TX where it rains 60-70% of the year so AWD is a life saver..

MB=more lux
BMW=performance(no doubt)
Audi=mix of both..A4-R8..the lesser models(A3, A1) are still reliable, but its for a certain market and pricepoint (college, 1st car).

[lowdef @ Oct 29th 2008 1:06AM]

where the hell in TX do you live? rain 60-70% of the year? what the hell are you smoking?

[Evan @ Oct 29th 2008 9:40AM]

I tried to like the A4, I really did, but I just couldn't like A4.

- The feel is totally different. The "Drive Select" option helps, but it adds $2500 to the A4, and still doesn't match the BMW.
- The A4's interior feels polished, but it's monochromatic and bland. BMW offers more leather colours, and the colours look sharper against the black and wood trim. Also, I don't care for the A4's Mazda-inspired red nighttime instrumentation lighting.
- Here in Canada, a base A4 with quattro is $3800 cheaper than a 328 with x-drive, but the A4 is less well equipped - the base A4 doesn't even have Xenon headlights! And getting a base A4 is next to impossible unless you order a car built to spec, almost all off-the-lot A4s have the $3800 "premium" pack.

At the end of the day, An A4 with "quattro", "premium" and "drive select" is almost exactly the same price as a 328 with "x-drive" and "premium", and the BMW is still the better car in my opinion.

That said, I'm seeing a lot of A3s around! Three neighbors have A3s. I've driven one, and it has much of the driving feel that's lacking from the A4. Of course it's small and more basic and not what I wanted, but for what it is, I'm more impressed by the A3 than the A4!

[iKurt @ Oct 28th 2008 11:24PM]

Audi Lancer Evo X

[RD. @ Oct 28th 2008 11:33PM]

wow. just saw that. nice spot.

[soulsaber @ Oct 28th 2008 11:34PM]

ya the headlights are like...extremely similar

[Aguiluz @ Oct 28th 2008 11:38PM]

That's nice and all but...

Price?

[)law( @ Oct 28th 2008 11:43PM]

looks nice, it wouldn't touch a the 3 series bmw tho but still it looks like a great car

[John P @ Oct 28th 2008 11:50PM]

Say what you will about reliability (which I've never found a problem in my Audi), but the engineers over at Audi make some very good features. Though we do not know whether or not this will go into production, 72.4 miles/gallon is amazing. Also, flashpoint, this car is obviously aimed against the Mini, not the M3 or 5. In terms of acceleration, the A1 wins. As for driveability...who knows? No one has ever driven it. I'm excited that it is coming into production, nonetheless.

[Jason White @ Oct 29th 2008 12:19AM]

READ: Concept... = no plans for current production.

[John P @ Oct 29th 2008 12:38AM]

That is not necessarily true, as GM brought the Camaro and Volt concepts to life. And Audi's R8 was a concept as well, which made the transition to production largely intact. Though I agree that a concept car will not generally make it to production, there are many exceptions to that rule.

[Cybergypsy @ Oct 28th 2008 11:52PM]

No more Audi's for me to many problems

[chris fredette @ Oct 28th 2008 11:55PM]

Like all this crap they left out the price and the date you can actually buy this thing.
All other numbers are irrelevant until those two critical pieces are released. In other news I designed a turbine-nuclear hybrid that gets 500,000 miles on the first full-up. I did it all with Maya and Photoshop last night and man it is sweet.

[fraxyl @ Oct 29th 2008 12:40AM]

You did all that but couldn't be arsed to upload the magnificence so we can see?

[Bobby @ Oct 29th 2008 12:09AM]

that is one sexy thing...

[digitallysick @ Oct 29th 2008 12:37AM]

I will take it for less than $27,000.00 otherwise they can keep it

[Tu @ Oct 29th 2008 12:53AM]

Say what you will about Audi, they own the all wheel drive (Quattro) segment. 25+ yrs of technology behind it and just look at the LeMans race, enough said.

Lexus (Luxury Executive US) is a Toyota, can't buy a Lexus anywhere but in the US. You can buy a Toyota IS 250 anywhere else in the world. Lexus/Toyota is a marketing auto company.

BMW is still the benchmark when it comes to the "ultimate driving machine" but for how long? Mercedes is old money, soft and getting softer.

We delivered an R8 today, the client waited 2 yrs. $168k, $27k was just the matching luggage.

Audi, lead never follow.

[britboyj @ Oct 29th 2008 2:48AM]

Mercedes have always felt cheap compared to the equivalent BMW's and Audi's.

I've always loved BMW's but I refuse to drive one because they change their design so often - three years later and you're driving "the old one." It's not slight tweaks that other manufacturer's do, it's an entirely different front-end.

[rj @ Oct 29th 2008 10:12AM]

@ Tu
"Lexus (Luxury Executive US) is a Toyota, can't buy a Lexus anywhere but in the US"

________

actually... lexus has been a global brand for at lease a few years now. u can pretty much purchase a lexus anywhere these days. for someone who sounds like they are in the car business... u really need to brush up on your product awareness.

http://lexus.jp/
http://www.lexus.eu/

[atomicmatt @ Oct 29th 2008 2:11AM]

Ummmm The read link goes to businessweek with no pics the VIA button goes to the pics, Why say hot the read link and look at the pics when in fact the read link goes to somewhere else entirely with no pics? and could you open all read links in new window? just a suggestion

[atomicmatt @ Oct 29th 2008 2:12AM]

wow I must be tired I forget there is always the open in new window button, duh, sorry disregard.......I did not just type you are getting sleepy.......

[iEye @ Oct 29th 2008 4:34AM]

this and all like it are girls car...

it has power steering... you don't need that.

[Hellaphunt @ Oct 29th 2008 3:50PM]

I love iEye! My favorite stickler!

[koss @ Oct 29th 2008 11:01AM]

Am I the only one who thinks it's fugly? Reminds me of those robot-faced cheapo china-made PC cases.

[Paco @ Oct 29th 2008 1:19PM]

Ther are photos of the actual car from the Paris Autoshow coverage by umm... Autoblog back aroudn the first of the month.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/02/paris-2008-audi-a1-sportback/