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2016 Audi R8 e-tron Officially Revealed with Extra Carbon Goodness

With all the debuts going on at the Geneva Motor Show, the R8 e-tron 2.0 nearly slipped under our radar. But such an interesting creation won't stay hidden for long.
2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos 9 photos
Photo: Newspress
2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos2016 Audi R8 e-tron 2.0 Live Photos
Driven on the stage by an official Audi works driver, the R8 e-tron looks different in so many ways to the V10 modes. For starters, the central grille has a large carbon fiber insert that reminds you of the Tesla Model S. The side intakes now have five horizontal lines that look like claw marks and the wheels have very small openings.

The carbon fiber air blades behind the doors are much smaller and you can't see a big V10 through the engine cover either. Looking at the large clamshell bonnet, we also noticed a LMS-like indentation. That could mean cargo space has been compromised or doesn't exist at all.

Audi previously tried to put the R8 e-tron into production but scrapped the idea because of low battery capacity. But in the past two years, engineers have managed to boost the range of the car from 133 miles (215 km) to 279 miles (450 km).

But what about performance? 2015 Audi R8 e-tron is equipped with two electric motors that deliver a combined output of 462 HP (or 340 kW as the press release says) and 920 Nm (679 lb-ft) of torque. It doesn't sound like much and the official numbers suggests Tesla's P85D is faster. In the Audi, the sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 3.9 seconds, which is on par with the RS7, but slower than the R8 V10 Plus. The top speed is limited to 250 km/h (155 mph).

All these are just preliminary numbers because even the regular R8 won't be in production until much later this year. But if you want a fast all-electric coupe that's not a BMW i8, the e-tron seems like your only choice.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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