Audi E-tron Concept

What is it?
Audi E-tron Concept

What's special about it?
This isn't just an Audi R8 with an electric motor stuffed inside. Actually, it's an R8 with four electric motors stuffed inside.

Audi calls it the E-tron Concept, and like most electrically powered cars, this one benefits from the availability of instant torque — in this case, it's an unheard of (almost unbelievable) amount of torque.

According to Audi, the four electric motors (one for each wheel) combine to deliver a total of 3,319 pound-feet of half-shaft-shredding torque. On the flip side, the motors only generate the equivalent of 313 horsepower, so Audi says the E-tron takes 4.8 seconds to hit 60 mph from a stop. That's fast, but such performance is more than a second slower than the Audi R8 V10, which produces a measly 391 lb-ft of torque.

Is it the extra weight of the batteries that's part of the problem? That's what we suspected at first, but Audi says the whole car only tips the scales at 3,527 pounds. A sizable chunk of that is the 1,036-pound battery pack that resides behind the driver.

Comprised of lithium-ion cells and cooled by water, the E-tron's battery pack gives it a maximum range of around 150 miles, and no doubt substantially less if you decide to dip into the ocean of torque on tap. The E-tron is also limited to a top speed of 124 mph in order to conserve battery power.

The rest of the car is typical concept car fantasy. There are very few switches and knobs on the inside, only a single MMI controller that theoretically handles all the essential functions. It's all driver-oriented to emphasize the E-tron's sports car nature, but that's the design license you can take when you're designing a car that will probably never go into production.

Although Audi says it's working hard to develop electric vehicle technology, the feasibility of a road-going E-tron seems pretty slim.

Inside Line says: Interesting to see so many manufacturers getting excited about building fun-to-drive electric cars. Then again, a concept is one thing; a serious production car is quite another. The E-tron doesn't look that serious. — Ed Hellwig, Lead Senior Editor