Tts on 2040-cars

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Is the Audi R8 E-Tron project back on again?

If you ask Audi about its R8 E-Tron prototype, the all-electric two-seater that was first shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, the automaker will tell you that its development program is on hold. Yet, as we reported in January, limited production of the combustion-free coupe may be moving forward... information still officially unconfirmed by the automaker.
New images of the electrified R8 undergoing winter testing in Europe have emerged (above and in our gallery), and the car has been spotted running in Spain as well. Both sightings support reports that the E-Tron, with its 150-mile battery range and 8:09 Nürburgring time, may be back in business. Does the program have a green light, or is Audi merely trying to take some of the thunder from the BMW i8?
Whatever the case, if the R8 E-Tron does eventually make it into showrooms - and we are now led to believe it will - expect production volume to be very low. Assuming it doesn't get shelved again, of course.

Editors' Picks February 2021 | Ford F-150, Genesis GV80, Mazda CX-30 and more

If we’ve driven and reviewed it, thereÂ’s an Autoblog Rating for it. ItÂ’s been over two years since we launched a new rating system to help you evaluate cars at a glance. We tweaked and improved it along the way and quickly arrived at a consistent process for giving each and every car on sale today a fair score. Cars that are exemplary or stand out in their respective segments get EditorsÂ’ Pick status. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. Every car we rate gets a score from 1 to 10, making it easy for you to tell if itÂ’s a car worth pursuing and possibly purchasing. YouÂ’ll find the scores of previously-rated cars attached toward the top of our written reviews. For example, the Bronco SportÂ’s rating can be found here. The Acura TLXÂ’s rating is in this post, and the Nissan RogueÂ’s rating is right here. There are hundreds of examples to be found. The above examples make up the most natural ways to find the Autoblog rating when researching for your next car, but starting today, weÂ’re going to begin calling out each new set of Editors' Picks per month in their own breakout stories. This will put the newest and most recently refreshed cars on sale on a pedestal for you to see which ones are worth your while. WeÂ’ll typically rate anywhere between 5-10 new cars per month, so you can count on just a select few from those to make this list. Expect to see this recurring ratings post each month going forward, and read on for FebruaryÂ’s EditorsÂ’ Picks.   2021 Genesis GV80 2021 Genesis GV80 View 18 Photos Quick take: The stylish GV80 offers useful safety features, compelling design and sporty dynamics to push it near the top of the segment. Genesis takes risks with this aggressive crossover, and the result is a luxurious vehicle that is rewarding to drive. Score: 8.5 What it competes with: Lincoln Aviator, Volvo XC90, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, Acura MDX, Lexus RX Pros: Beautiful design, good road manners, awesome value Cons: Small third row and cargo space, less comfortable standard suspension  From the editors: Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore — “The GV80 is a hugely important vehicle for Genesis. It makes a style statement, has an elegant interior and is a compelling all-round execution. It looks like a Bentley, and I give Genesis props for taking some risks with the GV80 and largely pulling it all off.

Audi is working on a suspension that gets power from bumpy roads

Regenerative brakes aren't new. They're on virtually every hybrid and EV, and they're even starting to pop up on traditional gas-powered cars, like with the i-ELOOP-equipped Mazda6. But even with these systems, cars can get more efficient, and Audi thinks it found yet another source of wasted energy. The source? The suspension. The idea is to turn the kinetic energy that goes into the dampers into usable energy instead of as waste heat. Audi isn't the first auto company to come up with regenerative suspension – nearly three years ago, ZF introduced its GenShock technology, which used a valve attached to traditional, oil-filled hydraulic shocks to recapture kinetic energy from movement caused by bumps in the road. Audi's prototype technology, which it calls eROT, replaces traditional dampers with horizontally oriented electromechanical rotary dampers. eROT is apparently short for electromechanical rotary damper. Neat. In testing, eROT recovered an average of 100 to 150 watts on a typical German road, three watts from a fresh piece of pavement, and 613 watts on a rough stretch of tarmac (wattage is calculated as power over time, so this is actually the rate at which the system harvests energy). The dampers channel that energy to a tiny, 0.5-kWh, 48-volt battery. The prototype is claimed to cut CO2 emissions by three grams per kilometer (4.8 grams per mile), while the company believes a future production version could save up to 0.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers of driving. Converting the savings to American miles per gallon isn't easy, so we'll use a practical example. In the US, the Q7's supercharged 3.0-liter V6 returns a combined rating of 21 miles per gallon, which works out to 11.2 liters per 100 kilometers. Apply eROT's 0.7L/100km savings, and the Q7's economy would improve to 10.5L/100km, or 22.4 mpg, a 1.4-mpg improvement. That's not huge, but because math, 0.7L/100km is more dramatic on a more fuel efficient vehicle – taking an A3's 27-mpg combined rating and adding eROT would drive efficiency up 2.4 mpg, for example. There are a few other big benefits beyond fuel and emissions savings – Audi claims eROT provides a more comfortable ride than traditional active suspensions, because engineers can tune the compression and rebound strokes independently of each other. Beyond that, the horizontally oriented rear suspension geometry means more cargo space, since the dampers don't poke up into the cabin like they normally do.