The New Triple Motor Audi E-Tron S Develops 500bhp And Nearly 1000Nm
Thanks to where battery technology is at right now, no modern electric car is light. The Audi E-Tron, however, has a particular issue with weight - at a porky 2565kg, it’s considerably bulkier than Jaguar’s I-Pace.
As such, despite having almost 400bhp to its name, performance is brisk rather than laugh-out-loud fast. For anyone wanting a 0-62mph time briefer than 5.7 seconds, though, Audi now has a solution - the E-Tron S.
Also available in swoopier Sportback form, the S adds a new three-motor powertrain. This has been made by shifting the standard E-Tron’s rear motor to the front axle and fitting two uprated versions of that same unit at the back.
This gives the E-Tron S 491bhp and 717.6lb ft of torque (nearly 1000Nm) to play with for eight-second “boost periods” when the driver sets the car to ‘S’ mode. 0-62mph takes just 4.5 seconds, and the top speed is 130mph.
To differentiate the exterior from the regular E-Tron, Audi has added new front and rear bumpers, and wheel arches that have been widened by 23mm. S badges and the trademark silver mirror caps complete the look.
The faster E-Tron also gets an S-specific tune for the air suspension, which can vary the ride height by up to 76mm. The triple motor setup also gives a much greater rear-bias than before, giving the E-Tron “the capacity to perform controlled drifts,” Audi says. Torque vectoring between the rear wheels is much faster, meanwhile, since each motor is directly hooked up to a wheel. No waiting for a differential to do its thing here.
Battery capacity is unchanged at 95kWh. Fully charged, the E-Tron S can cover up to 223 miles according to the WLTP cycle, while the slipperier Sportback manages 226 miles.
Both versions will be open for order this summer, priced at £87,000 for the E-Tron S and £88,700 for the E-Tron S Sportback.
Comments
95 kwh but only 226 miles? The onboard electronics must be some real power hogs.
enough with the fake grills! Please!
Electric cars still have things to cool down. I’d say a similar amount of the vents/grilles at the front are real vs the the average ICE Audi
Those grilles are largelybtehe to familiarise the look of the car. Without it, the car would look extremely weird, just like the frint of the new “Mustang”
There we go. Sexy.
It’s a good effort, but Audi really needs to take care of the weight and range issues