What is it?
In the early stages of this new era of the electric car, so much of the talk is around numbers, and how big they are. Range, battery size, power and torque levels, price… Now Audi has added another larger number to its new E-tron S Sportback: a third electric motor.
The new car, launched alongside a new S version of the existing E-tron at the same time, adds one extra motor over the E-tron 55 Sportback that sits below it in the range.
In the E-tron S Sportback, a large electric motor powers the front axle and there are twin smaller motors at the rear, allowing torque vectoring and fully variable torque distribution between the rear wheels for a promised increase in agility.
The presence of three motors, of course, means plenty of power and torque: 429bhp and 596lb ft all in, or 496bhp and a mighty 718lb ft in an overboost function in Sport mode.
Such hefty reserves require an equally hefty battery to draw their power from. In the E-tron S Sportback’s case, it’s a 95kWh lithium ion battery that’s good for a typical 226 miles.
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I would echo most of the comments here, a second rate vehicle. Johnny Smith described the first Etron as overweight and under-developed.
A similar theme seems to pervade other German EV vehicles - they all seem to be just modified ICE vehicles with EV hardware thrown in.
The I-Pace seems a much more properly developed vehicle.
This is disappointing. Bettered by the iPace, launched over 2 years ago, in range (229 vs 292 WLTP) and matched in performance, at 20% less cost.
The Tesla Model 3 Long range offers 360 miles WLTP and is faster than both for less than 50k. The Audi has a very nice interior of course but its all a bit underwhelming as a package.
Efficiency is poor too, 95kw battery vs 75kw for Tesla yet Tesla goes well over 100 miles farther (WLTP) despite the much smaller battery. I know its lighter but still not impressive.
As time goes on miles travelled per kw will become more widely used/understood as a metric for EV's, VAG should have the resources to do better than this surely?
This must be one of the most pointless cars of all time. Who in their right mind would pay £90k for a car which can't even get from London to Manchester without a recharging stop? What an appalling waste of scarce resources!