[AUTO] Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron concept: up to 500 kilometers in one go

[YaKuZa--BoSs]

The German brand will put on sale next year this new 100% electric model, fourth of the e-tron family, with a more compact size and a more sporty style. It stands out for its coupé-type rear.

 

 

The roadmap in the electrification of the Audi range promises that, by 2025, the German brand will have 20 fully battery-powered models. And that 40% of what it sells at that time, will be cars with some type of electric help. Along that path, silhouettes as suggestive as the precious e-tron GT, a kind of twin brother of the Porsche Taycan, and even some of the Avant type (the familiar bodies in the brand) are promised.

However, the journey (based on the VW Group's MEB platform) started in 2018 and it did it, it could not be otherwise, with an SUV model: the e-tron. Then, on this version a decline was launched with the coupé-type rear that, as is the norm in the house, adopts the name Sportback and sports a more dynamic and sporty image. The third milestone took place at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, when the concept of the Q4 e-tron, a smaller model and somewhat more accessible, was unveiled. Therefore, with greater commercial punch.

Following this logic, the next step could not be other than the Q4 e-tron Sportback, also presented as a prototype that will be very far from the model that finally reaches dealerships. Something that is planned for the first half of next year.

 

 

MORE ATTRACTIVE DESIGN
Finding the differences between one and the other is not a matter of the meter. The new model is just a centimeter longer (measures 4.60 meters) and lower (1.60 meters) than the conventional Q4, while tracing both the width (1.90 meters) and the wheelbase (2.77 meters). ). However, it seems longer due to the fluidity that gives it a very stretched rear, where the spoiler stands out that 'breaks' the rear window in two and the band that connects the optics and is much thinner. To look for a comparison within the German brand itself, by proportions it would be the equivalent of an Audi Q5.

 

 

For tastes the colors, but it is a much better resolved behind than in its 'brother', with which it shares the widened and very marked wheel arches, a stylistic nod to the famous B Groups of the World Rally Championship of the early 80s. And in the lower part, although the design of the rear diffusers is different, the e-tron logo that identifies the electric drive is repeated. The same occurs in the front, where the closed grill also alerts us to the technology behind the engine compartment.

INTERIOR AMPLITUDE AND INCREASED REALITY
The tires are huge, at 22 inches. Years ago only saloon cars allowed them, far from reality. Then they started to become po[CENSORED]r, especially in the US, when it came to customizing strong> SUVs and SUVs. Today they are already part of the equipment available in the etron that are for sale.

 

 

The great wheelbase, that the batteries are placed on the ground and that there is no transmission tunnel, allows you to enjoy a very wide cabin, especially for the legs of the occupants (the rear, only two in the prototype).

Compared to the already known e-trons, the Q4 is new the digital instrument cluster that will debut augmented reality functions to show, for example, direction signs on the road. A second 12.3-inch multifunction screen is added on the console, but it loses the third that many other models of the German brand carry and that, for example, recognizes written orders. As there is no traditional gear lever and the handbrake is electric, this space is used for different storage spaces, to which are added the ones in the doors to leave bottles.

 

 

UP TO 500 KILOMETERS OF REACH
The heart of the Q4 e-tron Sportback is made up of two electric motors, one on each axle, with a combined power of about 310 hp, whose power is distributed only to the rear axle (to gain efficiency) or to both, depending on the needs of grip and even predictively if we get too fast into a corner, so the car has all-wheel drive for these purposes. To supply them with energy, the battery occupies almost the entire floor of the vehicle. It has a capacity of 82 kWh, which means an autonomy of more than 450 kilometers according to the WLTP cycle and, according to the brand, "sets a new benchmark in the segment." In addition, Audi points out that there will also be rear-wheel drive only versions that will exceed 500 kilometers.

 

 

In both versions, the excellent CX aerodynamic coefficient of only 0.26 is decisive: and the effective energy recovery system. The battery supports a charging power of up to 125 Kw, which allows using a pole with this capacity to fill 80% in just 30 minutes.

They are not light batteries, since they add 510 kilos of weight to the set, which will easily exceed two tons. But its placement makes the center of gravity comparable to that of a lower saloon. And the all-wheel drive helps, plus the instantaneous torque of the electric motors (310 Nm and 150 Nm, respectively) make the Q4 e-tron accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h, in either of its two bodies, in just 6 , 3 seconds. For reasons of efficiency, the maximum speed is limited to 180 km / h.