There will soon be a new addition to the A3
line-up that might not look any different, but will be a pointer to a whole new
direction for Audi. The car is the new A3 e-tron, Audi's pathfinder for a wide
range of plug-in hybrids now being developed by the firm, and due for arrival
in New Zealand before the end of the year. No matter what the future holds,
Audi believes that plug-in hybrids are the best means of delivering reduced
tail pipe emissions in the medium term.
The
A3 e-tron is a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid version of the A3 Sportback
The powertrain comprises Audi's 110kW
1.4-litre TFSI engine matched to a 75kW electric motor which is part and parcel
of a newly developed six-speed twin-clutch. They combine to provide a system
output of 150kW and a stout 350Nm, the same pull as a VW Golf GTI.
Audi claims a 0-60km/h EV run takes 4.9sec
and with all systems firing 0-100km/h is recorded in 7.6sec. The e-tron weighs
a claimed 1,540kg, 190kg heavier than a standard A3 TFSI. The top EV speed is
130km/h, and when the petrol engine kicks in, it'll hit 222 clicks. The A3
e-tron has an official average consumption of just 1.5L/100 km.
The
interior is much like that of a conventional Audi A3, albeit predictably more
refined in EV mode
The car's 125kg lithium-ion battery pack
sits forward of the rear axle under the back seats where normally the petrol
tank lives. This has been relocated on top of the battery pack, which means it
robs some boot space as a consequence with Audi quoting 280L. The battery can
store up to 8.8kW/h of charge which is enough to give the A3 an EV range of up
to 50km. On start-up the e-tron defaults to EV mode and it will remain there
until it either juices the battery or the driver floors the accelerator to
achieve kickdown - called Boost in e-tron speak – at which stage the petrol
engine will join in. It also has a special dash-mounted EV button which can be
used to choose between four additional modes. An EV mode prioritises the
electric drive, a Hybrid Auto mode works to combine the two power sources in
the most fuel efficient way, Hybrid Hold reserves the battery power for later
use such as for urban driving or for Boosting when the transmission is moved
into S, and there's a Hybrid Charge setting which is used to charge the battery
as quickly as possible while driving.
The
A3 e-tron is powered by a 148bhp 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine and a 99bhp
electric motor
This might all sound complicated, but it's
not. At the recent international media launch in Austria, journalists were
invited to try the various modes by driving the e-trons around loop routes that
started in downtown Vienna, out through flat farmland to hill country, and then
back into the Austrian capital. By the end of the exercise our car had been in
EV mode 70 per cent of the time, and when it had been out in the country this
had reduced to 54.9 per cent as we tried out the various modes. This told us
theA3 e-tron performed exactly as Audi intends - it was a 100 per cent zero tail
pipe emissions electric vehicle in town, with the petrol engine joining in to
turn the car into a parallel hybrid out of town.
A3
e-tron's charging point is secreted behind the familiar four-ringed logo
Some other statistics from that drive; the
worst fuel consumption we achieved when we were punting along through the hills
was 6.5L/100km, while our overall average was 5.0L/100km. We also knew that on
our arrival back at base we had 0.2 kWh of battery charge remaining. How did we
know this? All this info can be accessed via a smartphone app.
When Audi launches the e-tron in Europe,
customers will be able to choose to enter a partnership that will see their
households using power generated exclusively from renewable sources. That way,
says the manufacturer, owners can claim their e-trons to be truly
zero-emissions vehicles. The e-tron will likely dot down here with a price tag
between $75,000 and $80,000, so around the same price as an S3.
