Audi e-Tron Spyder – The CES Star

Audi e-Tron Spyder at the CES

Audi keep on dragging versions of their e-Tron out at any given opportunity, usually focusing on a different take on some form or other of electric and/or hybrid propulsion.

Our favourite so far has been the Audi A1 e-Tron, which may seem odd to those of you who know of our penchant for the fast and exotic. But hybrid cars are best suited to urban environments – even more so electric cars – and the Audi A1 e-Tron’s combination of electric motors and a range-extending Wankel engine really floated our urban boat.

But the headline grabbers are the R8 e-Tron, the smaller R4 e-Tron and the spyder version of the R4 e-Tron we saw at Paris in September. And it looks like Audi may have run out of fresh versions of the e-Tron for now, as it’s the Audi e-Tron Spyder they’ve shown up to this week’s Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas with.

As far as we can see the e-Tron Spyder at the CES show is the same as the Paris car except the paint job – a quite fetching shade of red for CES. As far as we can tell the CES is still the most sensible implementation of the e-Tron gubbins we’ve seen in a ‘Sporty’ Audi.

Power comes from the new 3.0 litre TDI found in the A8 and driving the rear wheels through a 7-speed dual clutchg ‘box. The e-Tron stuff gets saved for the front axle where a pair of asynchronous electric motors chip in 88bhp and 260lb/ft of torque.

The electric motors  can be used to drag the e-Tron Spyder along as an EV, the ICE can run the e-Tron as a rear wheel drive or all wheels can play happy together to blitz the tarmac in to submission with a 4.4 second 0-60mph.

The really cute stuff – apart from the impressive performance – is that if you drive round like a Saint (which of course you won’t) you could get 128.4 mpg and emit just 59g/km CO2. But only around town and only if you have the lightest of touches on the throttle. Just like all hybrids, really.

Still, it’s nice to see the e-Tron Spyder in red.

By Cars UK