It seems like the all-new Audi R8 could make its official debut in March at the Geneva Motor Show and that it will bring the electric e-tron version along with it.
This information comes to us from Audi board member for technical development Ulrich Hackenberg, who told CarAdvice that the [e-tron] ” will be introduced with the successor of the R8, and we will have first example of the car … in next March, at Geneva, so you will see, it’s done. ”
He also stated why they had to re-engineer the entire project, specifically because the electric R8’s range was just 220km, adding ” so what I made with the team was to continue to work on this, and we could realize between 400 and 500 km. Or something beyond 400km. ” This is extraordinary to know, because it will challenge the 460km range of the Tesla Model S, not to mention the the BMW i8 which can only manage 37 km. So there, that’s what you get for being first BMW.
Hackenberg also mentioned that there won’t be a manual transmission in the new R8, saying that when going ” for the record of your personal lap time, you will need a double-clutch ” – which is absolutely true. The days of the purists have long been numbered on this issue, when it was proven that if you want to truly focus on setting the fastest possible lap time, you can’t worry about working the clutch and the stick, especially when you can’t shift as fast as a modern automatic box.
As far as we’re concerned, all of this is great news, especially since Geneva is just around the corner. Using the R8 to jump ahead of the competition is a great plan for Audi, because they might end up with the best all-round electric supercar on the market. Challenging the Tesla Model S in terms of autonomy isn’t easy.
As for the looks of the new R8, we’ve seen plenty of spy shots and renderings but the car will most likely be an evolution in terms of the design, close to what we’ve seen from Remco Meulendijk of DesignRM and Marco van Overbeeke.
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