Audi rumoured to be planning electric R8
Audi is reportedly planning a fully electric successor for its R8 sports car and intends to cooperate with Rimac to make this happen. According to a British media report, a name, a plant and a planned start date have already been decided upon.
As the report from Carmagazine reveals referring to insiders from the German carmaking town of Ingolstadt, the electric R8 successor will be called RS e-Tron and will be assembled in the Böllinger Höfe factory in Heilbronn, Germany starting from 2023 or 2024. The current combustion engine R8 is already being produced in the factory near the Neckarsulm plant. However, it would not be the first electric car to be produced at the site: as reported, production there is currently being converted for the e-Tron GT, which is to be assembled there from the end of 2020.
The first key data of the planned RS e-Tron with Rimac technology have also already been leaked: four electric motors are planned, which will deliver a total around 700 kW of power, and a 95-kWh solid-state battery. The drive, which is to be supplied by Rimac, can accelerate the car to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. If the drive is less required, a range of 480 kilometres (300 miles in the original) should be possible. According to the sources in Ingolstadt, the wireless charging in the RS e-Tron will also be implemented.
The key technical data – including the solid cells – is strongly reminiscent of the PB 18 e-Tron concept that Audi presented last August at the Pebble Beach Automotive Week in Monterey, California. The subsidiary Audi Sport was already responsible for the implementation at that time. According to the computer sketches published, the RS e-Tron will not only take over the technical concept, but also some design elements of the PB 18 e-Tron. However, two things will probably not make it into the production model: The Sportback-style rear of the concept and the central driver’s seat.
Kacher also claims to have already have a price: The electric sports car is to cost “just under” 200,000 euros. Hans-Joachim Rothenspieler, Chief Development Officer of Audi, told Carmagazine: “Audi Sport must have electric mobility, and our brand icons must become electric. We are discussing sports cars and RS vehicles – they need a change towards e-mobility”.
Rimac is an electric sports car manufacturer from Croatia. At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, company founder and CEO Mate Rimac presented the “C Two”, a sports car with an output of 1,408 kW and a top speed of 412 km/h. The “C Two” is a sports car with a power output of 1,408 kW. In addition to its own sports cars, the company also develops high-performance electric drives and battery systems. This is apparently quite an attractive business segment: in 2018 Porsche acquired ten per cent of Rimac. The drive system for the Pininfarina Battista also comes from Rimac.
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