2004 Audi S4 Quattro Sedan on 2040-cars

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Audi promises production laser headlights

Audi is showing off new laser headlight technology this week at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show on its Audi Sport Quattro Laserlight Concept, and most intriguingly, the automaker has plans to use the long-range lighting on production vehicles. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler tells Automotive News that this type of headlights will be used on a future production vehicle, although he did not specify any timeframe.
On the concept vehicle, the headlights employ LED low beams, while the high beams use the laserlight technology. Audi says that these lights are not only very small ("a few microns in diameter") they are also able to light the road for almost a third of a mile (1,640 feet), with three times the brightness of an LED highbeam, yet with pinpoint control. These lights have already been confirmed for use in motorsports on the 2014 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro LMP1 racecar, and the tech will eventually trickle down to road-going cars.
In addition to how long this trickle down will take, it's doubtful we'll see these lights in the US anytime soon. Audi is still working with the US Department of Transportation for approval of its LED Matrix Beam headlights, which are already sold in other markets, and the negotiations appear to be taking quite a bit of time. Automotive News also notes that the laser headlights earmarked as options on the 2015 BMW i8 will not be offered in the US, either.

Audi moves to patent electric Quattro and active-shutter wheels

Audi might have a few tricks up its sleeve for the coming years, with the Brits at Autocar uncovering a pair of patent filings made by the German luxury brand. The first is something we've seen before - wheel flaps - while the second is an evolution of one of Audi's trademark technologies.
We last saw wheel flaps on the Ford Atlas Concept in 2013, but the futuristic fuel-saving tech has so far failed to arrive on a production car. Audi may be seeking to change that, patenting the flaps that open and close automagically based on airflow. They can also open if the brakes get too hot.
The second patent is an evolution of Audi's Quattro all-wheel drive. The new AWD system uses an electrically driven rear axle and wheel sensors to figure out when and at which corner the car might lose traction, and is targeted largely at hybrid offerings, which is a field Audi has only recently dipped its toe into.

Audi teases 700-hp Quattro Sport E-Tron concept for Frankfurt

Audi's trump card for the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show has just been unveiled, sort of. It's called the Quattro Sport E-Tron Concept. Set to debut in a few weeks, sketches have been uncovered that show a few of the car's details, albeit in rough form. The news of a big-name Audi concept at Frankfurt has been swirling since June, when we first reported on it.
From the sketches, we see a car that has the same basic shape as the Quattro Concept from the 2010 Paris Motor Show, only with subtle tweaks and evolutions to a few features. The news isn't so much about the looks, though. It's the reports coming from Auto Zeitung and Audi enthusiast site Fourtitude.
Horsepower on the concept is expected to be in the neighborhood of 700 ponies - about 50 more than we initially thought - and will be split between a gas engine and an electric motor. Yup, that "E-Tron" name isn't just there for show. While it's not clear what the exact split will be between gas and electric power, we do know the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 found in the RS6 and RS7 will be sitting under the Quattro's hood, and that the bulk of the power will likely come from here. We may not have power figures on the hybrid system, but we do know this concept is capable of running for 21.7 miles on electric power alone.