Audi shocks the world after revealing electrified Audi Sport future
Audi surprised the motoring industry after top executives all but confirmed that the future of Audi Sport will be electric. The German manufacturer is intent on pursuing future technologies in their performance models as opposed to perfecting older technology.
A press conference was held where Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler, Audi’s board member for technical development, admitted that although there was no intent to adjust the current S and RS line-up’s, Audi will be adapting them soon to conform to customer demand while satisfying the strict regulations around emissions.
Audi’s current performance line-up has catalysed the shift to electric power, with the Audi RS4 and RS5 sharing a smaller 2.9-litre V6 engine compared to the 4.2-litre V8 from their predecessors. Even the V10-powered Audi R8 supercar will flaunt an electric motor in the next 3-years.
One of the more controversial models is the Audi TT which could be removed from Audi’s product line altogether. Rothenpieler believes that the Audi TT can be saved, but on one condition – it becomes electric. “The TT is emotional to us; we’ve been having emotional discussions at the board level,” Rothenpieler said. “It’s our DNA and that’s what we’re fighting for. I’m going to convince my colleagues on how it can be electrified.
“The same applies to R8 as to TT,” he added. “We’re involved in discussing this, and these models and RS will need a change into e-mobility. The e-tron GT is the first step, at the end of 2020; we have to keep our sporty DNA and I think we’re going to see in our discussions on what we’ll still need in terms of combustion engines and what we can transfer into e-mobility right away.”
Audi is rather serious about electrification. So serious, in fact, that Rothenpieler believes that the red Audi Sport logo could incorporate some green to symbolise their electric potential.
