2020 Audi Q5 45 Premium Plus on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Is this the Audi C-BEV Concept?

The head of R&D at Audi, Ulrich Hackenberg, used part of his comments at the company's annual conference to broach the subject of an all-electric SUV. He didn't give many details, but he said it would be based on the same MLB 2 platform as the Q7, would have a range of more than 311 miles, and perhaps use a battery rated at 90 kWh. German publication Auto Motor und Sport has just published sketches of what that SUV, supposedly codenamed C-BEV internally, will look like when we see it in concept form at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Autocar's sources say this is a five-seat, "production-relevant zero-emissions concept" that offers hints about the coming Q6 and how Audi plans to battle the BMW X6 and Tesla Model X. Autocar says the lithium-ion battery, placed inside the platform, could hit that 90 kWh number, and power three electric motors. One of the motors is mounted in the transmission, two more at the rear axle, and combined output is reportedly 500 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. Styling will aim for something coupe-ish, the company expecting it to be so sleek that it will have a coefficient of drag under .30. For comparison, the Audi A6 has a Cd of .28. All-out luxury is the word here, with interior architecture shared with the next A8, and "Range Rover rivaling ride quality." We're not sure if this has anything to do with Audi's announcement that it will show a concept with OLED matrix lighting at Frankfurt, but the production vehicle that the Frankfurt concept leads to will go on sale in late 2018.

Audi Quattro tech shoots for the moon

Most automakers seem satisfied building vehicles to drive on the Earth's surface. But not Audi. The German automaker is quite literally shooting for the moon with the vehicle you see here. Called the Audi Lunar Quattro, it forms what promises to be an integral part of one team's campaign for the Google Lunar Xprize. That team calls itself Part-Time Scientists, and is the only German contingent of the 25 that originally entered from around the world and the 15 that are still in the race. Sponsored and technically assisted by Audi, the Lunar Quattro is a solar-powered moon rover. It packs an adjustable solar panel and a lithium-ion battery powering four individual hub motors – one in each wheel. It can only travel at a theoretical maximum of 2.2 miles per hour, but outright speed isn't the point here. It's been designed to traverse the difficult terrain of the moon's finely dusted and craggy surface. It'll need to travel at least 500 meters (1,640 feet) and will transmit high-definition video footage from the twin stereoscopic camera on its swiveling head back to Earth. The lunar rover is scheduled to be launched aboard a rocket from Earth to the moon by the end of 2017. The 240,000-mile trip will take five days and is targeted to land north of the moon's equator – close to the place where Apollo 17 (NASA's last manned lunar mission) landed back in 1972. Before that, though, it'll be presented by Audi sales chief Luca de Meo (who's since been named the head of Seat) at the Cannes Innovations Days forum. You can check it out in the gallery and extensive press release below, but first, we suggest you watch the video playlist above while preparing to check out tonight's red moon eclipse. Related Video: Moon landing mission: AUDI AG supports the German Team at Google Lunar XPRIZE Audi is taking off for the moon – together with the Part-Time Scientists team. The group of German engineers are working within the framework of the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition to transport an unmanned rover onto Earth's natural satellite. Audi is supporting the Part-Time Scientists with its know-how in several fields of technology – from quattro drive and lightweight construction to electric mobility and piloted driving. The moon rover will be named the "Audi lunar quattro." "The concept of a privately financed mission to the moon is fascinating," says Luca de Meo, Audi Board Member for Sales and Marketing. "And innovative ideas need supporters that promote them.

Audi Prologue concept drives itself to CES with updated powertrain

What's the point in crafting a one-off concept car if it only gets to stand in the spotlight at one show? That's what automakers have been asking themselves recently, and the answer has, generally speaking, been to repaint their show cars, give them a bit of new tech and put them back on center stage. And the latest to do so is Audi, which has given its Prologue concept a new lease on life. The Prologue was originally unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show less than two months ago, showing the way forward for the future of Audi design, in an elegant coupe form that looked ready to take on the Mercedes S-Class Coupe. We even got a chance to drive it around the streets of LA, and when we did, we marveled at the concept's advanced infotainment system that caters a range of personal preferences according to who's on board. "It's easy to see how this could even reach for chauffeured, or autonomously driven vehicles" in the future, we said at the time. And it turns out Audi was on the same page. At CES this year, Audi has brought back the Prologue concept, given it a darker coat of grey paint, a grey-tone interior (instead of the previous shades of brown and tan), a fresh set of wheels and equipped it with the autonomous tech the German automaker has been at the forefront of developing. Though other automakers have been fitting their self-driving prototypes with all-electric powertrains, Audi kept the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 in place – but fitted it with a hybrid assist to drive output up from an already prodigious 605 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque to an even more impressive 677 hp and 701 lb-ft, dropping the 0-62 time down to 3.5 seconds. Now that's the kind of "piloted driving" tech (as Audi calls it) that we can get behind.