The e-tron may sound like a 60s robot from a bad sci-fi film, but in actual fact it’s a hand-built electric concept car from Audi. Based on their R8 supercar, the Audi e-tron packs not one but four 230kW (313bhp) electric motors, one for each wheel, for a total of 3319lb/ft of torque, 0-60mph times of 4.8s and a (limited) top speed of 125mph, without killing any rhinos, pandas or polar bears in the process (unless they jump out into the road).
There’s nothing more annoying when driving than coming to a complete stop at a red light only to have it change one second later. Well, besides road rage, that is. But anyway, now Audi is looking to remedy the problem with a new system called Travolution.
So Jaguar goes and picks up Bowers & Wilkins for their cars and Subaru follows suit and goes and picks up another well known non-car audio system manufacturer to do work in their car. The announcement was made yesterday at Subaru’s R1e unveiling.
It will have 2 doors, 4 seats, and a push button drop top. Its being called the Audi Cross Cabriolet, and Audi is calling it a cross between a mini car and an SUV.
Sounds like a convertible PT Cruiser if you ask me, but judging from the picture, Audi’s pedigree, and the 240HP motor inside, I think it will be so much more. Oh yeah, they are also giving it all wheel drive and electric ride-height adjustment (can you say Hydros?).
The very same auto manufacturers you are thinking of are the ones working on a concept device that nearly does it all. It starts with an MP3 player and then adds on Wi-Fi, 3G via UMTS, and so much more.
It doubles as a cellular phone too, thus the addition of the 3G connectivity. It also does navigation, controls the functions of your Audi, and so much more.
That’s a long name, but this thing does a lot. Not only does it maintain the retro look of an old jukebox, but cranks out tunes from several devices.
First, there is the iPod/iPhone dock, which can be controlled from the unit itself or some functions can be controlled via the remote. Then there is also the CD player and FM radio. It cranks out tunes from all those devices through a 2.1 speaker setup featuring a whopping 40 watts of power.
Ahh, my two favorite A’s are at it again, Audi and Apple have combined forces and now Apple’s Jesus Phone, they iPhone itself is integrated into the Audi Music Interface for the A5, A6, A8, and Q7 models. Not wirelessly though.
Alas, the iPhone’s shortcomings are slowly coming out, this time it’s the lack of A2DP Bluetooth support. You see, had the device had A2DP support, Audi would have just integrated that Bluetooth profile into their software, as the hardware already uses Bluetooth. Then we could have used every single A2DP device with this wonderful media-rich experience inside an Audi.
Concept vehicles are always more interesting to look at because they can escape the boundaries of reality such as rain and side-impact airbags. The Audi Quattroflex, a concept car not a four-bladed stubble shaver, has indeed outstepped the boundaries in an imaginative design manifested as what appears to be a futuristic chariot. Designed by Alexey Bykov, a Russian student, the concept design has won a “Best Use of Technology Award” in this year’s Interior Motives Design Awards. More details and images after the jump.
I’ve made up my mind that I must HAVE the Audi R8! I’m going to start garage selling all my gadgets and unneeded crap around the house, and maybe – maybe I’ll have enough in 5-8 years!
Images courtesy of Carster.com via Autoblog.com.
Ryan Port or Carster.com took some amazing shots of the undisguised Audio A8 right outside of his office in Santa Monica. Check out his interesting encounter with the irritated engineers driving the car, here. I’ve encountered a few incidents when I’ve tried to snap some shots of cars not on the market yet. Trust me, it’s not a pretty sight. The drivers would slur words like “we have your tag and we’ll be hunting you down!” So I can imagine the ordeal Ryan went through to get these two shots for the world to see.
JP
