Never one to let BMW have any territory to itself for long, Audi is about to crash its Bavarian rival’s new i sub brand with a revolutionary, clean, prestige city car of its own.
Taking up considerably less real estate than BMW’s i3 electric car, the Audi UrbanConcept is a semi-open wheeler design narrow enough to be easy to drive and park in crowded city streets.
With two offset seats, the UrbanConcept will be fully electric – unlike the i3, which will also be available as a range-extender hybrid – and will drive its 21-inch wheels via two of Audi’s e-tron electric motors.
The radically styled UrbanConcept will be built from a combination of aluminium and carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), which promises both enormous strength and safety in concert with light weight.
Audi has made neither performance nor economy claims for the UrbanConcept, but when it makes its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, Audi will likely gauge public acceptance of the concept.
Where BMW has launched the i as a sub-brand, Audi has confessed it is more likely to reintroduce the A2 nameplate – still an urban favourite in the European used-car market – as an eco-friendly, city-car range, with the UrbanConcept leading the way.
The UrbanConcept shares no architecture or components with any other production Audi and its taut, aggressive lines are also said to provide hints to the future design language of Audi’s mainstream lineup.
Besides its cabin, the most stunning features of the UrbanConcept are its stand-alone wheels, which allow it the short overhangs so sadly lacking in modern small hatches. While the top of the wheels will be covered, they’ll also be protected visually by blinking LED lights and will have brake energy recuperation to extend the range from the Lithium-ion battery pack, built into the chassis.
The passenger compartment will be, like the i3, made from CFRP, which Audi and its supercar arm, Lamborghini, has been massaging into cheaper and faster production for more than 30 years. Some of the technology is purely Audi, some of it is derived from Lamborghini’s radical RTM-Lambo and braided carbon systems from the Aventador supercar.
Either way, both the seat bases are moulded into the UrbanConcept’s carbon-fibre body, and the driver can simply adjust the pedals and the steering wheel, along with the backrest angle, to suit themselves.
Audi insists the odd, offset seating positions, with the passenger seat to the side and slightly behind the driver’s seat, will provide plenty of space while keeping the cabin narrow, and both occupants slide the large, single-piece roof back to enter the car.
The cabin itself is based on minimalistic principals for light weight, with all of its controls and materials made from carbon-fibre, aluminium and lightweight upholstery materials.
That promises to lend the sleek UrbanConcept reasonable straight-line performance and allows it to use a smaller battery pack than a converted production car.
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