Legislation will force future Audi performance cars into using hybrid power
Low-emission legislation changes will force almost all of Audi’s fastest models into hybrid power within a generation, the head of quattro has admitted.
Managing director of quattro, Heinz Hollerweger, has said the entire family of Audi RS models will need some level of electric power to get down to the EU’s sub-100g/km CO2 target by 2021.
But Hollerweger has confidently said no model in the RS range would struggle to meet the 65mpg target.
“I don’t think it will be difficult,” he told Auto Express. “But when we reduce below 100g/km, we have to add some form of electrification. The question is, in which way?”
The timing of the Audi model rollouts means that some of the RS models might sneak in a full life cycle before 2020, but others will need to be pre-engineered to accommodate hybrid power in their facelifts. These include the next full generations of the Audi Q5, the Q7, the A3, the A4, the A6, the A7 and the TT. The R8 will continue as a V10.
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