After the Audi R8 e-tron was launched last year in Geneva, the company decided to cancel the production of this vehicle, but the reason is not known yet.
Rumour has it that the Audi doesn’t have the technology yet to face its powerful competitors from top brands such as Tesla and Mercedes. According to one of Audi spokespeople, around 100 cars have been sold since last year.
The one-million-dollar car was slower than Tesla’s Model S P90D although it had rear-mounter electric motors which delivered 456 horsepower and 679 lb-ft of torque. It is worth mentioning that no unit was sold to the United States, but only in Europe.
Audi had been planning to launch the R8 model since 2009 and began with a prototype capable of reaching 100km/h in 4.8 seconds and a top speed of 200km/h for a longer battery life.
However, Tesla Model S was already in showrooms by the time the first R8 concept was revealed. In addition, the Model S had the same quality, but it was much more affordable. In 2013, the company decided to give up on the Audi R8 e-tron, but soon Audi officials understood that electric cars are the future.
Even if the engineers improved the range and pace, Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive and Tesla Model S updates were much better than what the latest Audi R8 e-tron promised to bring on the market.
The second-generation e-tron guaranteed that there would much to like about the latest vehicle but despite the fact that R8 was the only rear-wheel-drive model among all Audi cars, it was still not enough to make it a hit.
Also, compared to the 2010 prototype, this 2015 Audi R8 e-tron was able to reach 100km/h in 3.9 seconds. Plus, this car had a top speed of 155 mph, while the maximum speed for standard models was 130 mph.
This vehicle functioned on a 42.4 kWh lithium-ion battery powerful enough for long road trips. Although there is still a long way to go until electric cars become the main attraction of the vehicle market, Porsche is also working on a four-door electric sports car that promises to come out by the end of 2019.
An interesting fact is that Audi officials have announced that the company will continue to work on an electric-car concept better than the Audi R8 e-tron, an SUV which will be launched in 2018.
Image Source: Wikipedia
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