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Audi, Jag, Kia and Tesla top Strategic Vision 2014 Total Quality Index

A couple weeks ago, J.D. Power released its latest Initial Quality Study, which gave high marks to Porsche, Hyundai and General Motors, with the latter earning more individual IQS awards than any other manufacturer. Now, it's Strategic Vision's turn, and it's doling out its praise not to Porsche, but to Tesla, which wasn't even included in the JD Power IQS.
The Model S was named the best vehicle overall in total quality, while Porsche's corporate brother and endurance-racing rival, Audi, was named the best premium brand, alongside Jaguar. Strategic Vision cited the Q5 and the ancient Q7 for individual segment awards, as well as the A5, which was a mere point off the top of its segment. SV also handed out compliments for the Audi's interior work. The win for the German brand is a nice improvement over its IQS score, with which it landed above the industry average, but solidly mid-pack.
Jaguar was without a segment winner, although SV did say that the Indian-owned English brand had a number of vehicles very near the top of their segments. This is the second significant win for Jag in two weeks, after it finished second overall on the JD Power IQS a few weeks ago.

Audi A3 E-Tron launching at $51,500 in Germany

Audi has put a price tag on the A3 Sportback E-Tron plug-in hybrid, for which presales begin this month in Germany. To get your hands on one of these little guys, Audi is asking for ˆ37,900, or about $51,537 according to current exchange rates. Of course, the base MSRP doesn't include any incentives, but in Germany, those savings would come from certain annual tax exemptions that apply to PHEVs. Buyers in other countries might have more luck in getting into an A3 E-Tron for less. Audi lists its most important markets for the A3 E-Tron as Germany, Sweden, Norway, Holland, the UK and, despite no firm date for the car's arrival here, the United States. These countries, according to Audi, are where buyers are willing to spend their green (or the more colorful banknotes of Europe) on green cars. These places also enjoy nice things, or in Audi's words, "They appreciate the classic strengths of the Audi brand: high-end technology, uncompromising workmanship, sportiness and elegant design." In Germany, Audi will sell the A3 Sportback E-Tron at select dealerships. The service departments of those 100 or so dealers will get special training to work with the high-voltage technology used by the plug-in hybrid. These locations will also feature free-to-use charging stations for customers. The Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron's lithium-ion battery stores 8.8 kWh of juice, and is supplemented by a four-cylinder, 1.4-liter TFSI engine which works parallel to the electric motor. Total output is 204 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, directed to the front wheels via a six-speed S Tronic transmission. The car can reach 60 miles per hour in 7.6 seconds and has a top speed of 138 mph. It can travel of to 31 miles on battery power alone. Deliveries for the 2015 Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron will begin in Germany and Central Europe this winter.

Audi's lunar rover is nearly ready for the moon

Last year, Audi announced it was working on a lunar rover with a group called the Part-Time Scientists. Now the company says the design of its Lunar Quattro is complete, and all that's left is final testing before it's ready to head for the moon. Since Audi and its 16 engineers became involved with the project, the rover has actually increased in size, as have its tires. The company says this is for added stability. Despite the added size, the rover is now lighter, bringing it down from 38 to 30 kilograms (what we'd call 66 pounds). Otherwise, the rover is generally the same as it was last year. All four wheels are still powered by electricity, so Audi touts it as being both a Quattro and an E-tron vehicle. Cute. The rover will undergo final testing in the Middle East where it will run through simulations of the mission. For those unfamiliar, the mission parameters were set by Google for the Google Lunar XPRIZE. The prize is worth $30 million and will go to the first team to land a privately funded lander and rover on the moon, drive the rover 500 meters, and send back photos. If the mission is successful, we should get some great 3D and 360-degree shots of the lunar rover left behind by the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, since the proposed landing site is nearby. The Part-Time Scientists team that Audi partnered with has also booked a launch for its ALINA lunar lander, which will carry a pair of the Lunar Quattro rovers to the moon's surface. The launch was scheduled with Spaceflight Industries and is set for the end of 2017. Spaceflight Industries has managed 11 rocket launches with different companies and rockets between 2013 and 2015, and will also launch a probe from Israeli XPRIZE competitor SpaceIL sometime next year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Related Video: