Audi Sees Solid Future for EVs

A mere 10 years from now Audi expects 5 percent of its sales will be electric vehicles. That’s not the wishful thinking of tree-huggers or even the fanciful projection of some think-tank. It is the bold prediction of Michael Dick, Audi’s technology chief. Audi is getting into electrics in a big way, creating a specific brand called e-tron and rolling one out slick concept after another. The  latest, the A1 e-tron range-extended EV, could see production within a few years. Dick tells Automotive News Audi is solidly behind the EV push . Ingolstadt already has said it will build the sexy e-tron electric sports car by 2012. “A prototype will soon be tested and Audi will head into intensive trials with three to four vehicles by the end of the year,” he told the scribes at AN . As for the A1 e-tron (pictured), it looked like it could roll into a showroom tomorrow when Audi unveiled

it at the Geneva auto show. Audi hasn’t said it will build the little EV, but given its recent pro-EV announcements and tightening emissions regs, which way would you bet? “Audi’s management board hasn’t officially made a decision on the A1 e-tron, but it’s very likely that the concept will be built,” Dick said. Dick expects the car, if approved, would have a three-year development period. The 102 horsepower A1 e-tron is projected to have a battery range of about 50 kilometers (31 miles) in city traffic. When the lithium-ion battery runs out of juice, a small Wankel rotary engine kicks in to generate the electricity to keep the wheels turning. For the record, Audi sold 75,900 cars worldwide last month. Photo: Audi See Also: Audi Brings a ‘Premium Compact’ To the EV Party Audi Says Ja! to EVs Audi’s Electric Car Gets Even Hotter

Read more:
Audi Sees Solid Future for EVs