Do you also feel as if Audi doesn’t know where and how to use the “e-tron” label? The E-tron GT has additional letters at the end, the Q4 e-tron at the beginning … If so, read the name of the new electric machine with four circles in the logo seriously and carefully – it’s called Audi RS Q e-tron. It is a sharp (RS) off-road (Q) electric car (e-tron). But don’t expect ladies to go shopping in it.
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Namely, the RS Q e-tron is a special division of Audi Sport, a race car designed for the Dakar Rally. And yes, it is an electric car – although the EREV class, Extended Range Electric Vehicle, ie an electric car with extended range. It has an on-board electricity generator in the form of a two-liter four-cylinder TFSI.
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Audi RS Q e-tron
Photo: Audi
So isn’t it a plug-in hybrid? No, the internal combustion engine does not work directly on the wheels, it only recharges the battery. It operates at the speed of its highest efficiency, ie between 4,500 and 6,000, and according to a press release, its specific consumption is less than 200 grams per kilowatt hour charged. Gasoline has a supply of 295 liters; the battery has a capacity of 50 kWh. It is therefore likely that Audi expects the internal combustion engine to run for most of the stage.
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The internal combustion engine comes from the Audi RS5 Turbo DTM, two electric motors – one on each axle – again from the Audi program for Formula E. They are only slightly different from those in the electric monopost FE07, where Lucas di Grassi won the race in Puebla, Mexico this year.
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Audi RS Q e-tron
Photo: Audi
The car has the highest output of 680 horsepower, but it is not yet clear whether any rule will speak into the performance. The battery weighs 370 kg. In its class, the machine has a prescribed minimum weight of 2000 kg; how much it really weighs, the carmaker did not state. However, he says that testing is already underway and that the RS Q e-tron will participate in Dakar in January 2022.
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