Remember when Johan de Nysschen made some disparaging comments about electric vehicles. Then, Audi decided to announce its electric vehicle program. Man, that was funny!
Now we're seeing an interesting development after Audi has certainly invested in not-so-cheap Research & Development initiative: The R8 e-Tron program has been "delayed indefinitely." Check out the quote -- in italics -- below.
In a recent issue of Audi's technology magazine, the R8 e-Tron specs were revealed. It is powered by a pair of electric motors, which power totals 376 horsepower. Though it weighed in at over a lofty 3,900 pounds, it still was able to achieve zero to 62 in 4.2 seconds and hit a top speed of 124 mph.
Here's where the problems start though. A charge from a socket would take approximately 12 hours and was only good for 130 or so miles. That's by way of a 230-volt socket. For those more time-crunched individuals, there is a "high performance DC charging device" that can provide juice within an hour's time.
Audi has confirmed that the launch of its all-electric R8 e-tron has been delayed indefinitely. Originally scheduled to arrive in showrooms last year, the Mercedes SLS Electric Drive rival is now being treated purely as a technical exercise to advance electric car technology for models lower down the range.
“We’ve already built 10 cars which are being evaluated internally,” an Audi spokesman told us. “We’re concerned about the limited range of pure electric cars with existing battery technology, we don’t think the customers are ready to accept it...
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