[ad_1]
From a technical point of view, my first drive with the all-new Audi e-tron fully electric Audi e 2019 has never seen its state-of-the-art electronic all-wheel drive system touching a highway in Namibia, in South Africa. The all-electric SUV is not expected to reach American roads until next year, but when Audi asked us if we wanted to test its new EV quattro system well in advance, we did not lower the manufacturer. It turns out that the new e-tron may not be quite ready for the release, but that does not mean it's not ready for a really stupid drift.
With the public asphalt off the menu, I rather headed for the middle of the desert via a small bush plane, then from there to the salt beds where an improvised "ice track" had been set up. Even though we had already experienced the unique e-tron recovery technology, it was only from the passenger seat. It would be the first time that Audi allowed us to drive ourselves.
This shows a level of confidence that you would not expect for what will be Audi's first 100% electric SUV: it's not an incursion into a quiet journey, with worried engineers asking me to use more caution. Once again, the 2019 e-tron closely follows Q9 2019, Audi's flagship SUV, which, like everything that came from Ingolstadt, was bristling with technology. The EV is just taking off.
Almost the same size as the Tesla Model X, although a bit wider and more aggressive, the e-tron is strictly a five-seater. This means that with a wheelbase similar to that of the Tesla, you have plenty of room in the cabin for passengers and their luggage. In the trunk you'll find room for 23.3 cubic feet of freight. During our safari, which I would certainly call light off-road driving experience, our two rear passengers do not have to complain.
Audi powers the e-tron with a pair of asynchronous motors, a smaller engine at the front and a larger version at the rear, with an initial power split of 45% at the front end. Before and 55% at the back. Do not expect this ratio to remain constant even for a minute. In everyday driving conditions, you can expect most of the power to come from the rear: according to Audi, this should maximize the battery charge. Switch to sport mode and the two engines work together to produce 355 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to go from 0 to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds.
I did not expect Audi to encourage me to test that, but I was wrong. The track configuration consisted of a long straight for the acceleration tests, a drift section, a slalom for the performances, and lastly a road holding test. If I was honest, I drifted the e-tron wherever I could, in every corner where it was even possible.
After skirting the long stretch, after drifting in a tight left – handed bend, I managed to crush the throttle and kick boost mode to quickly bring the car back to 70mph. This is oddly exhilarating, as the e-tron comes without the engine you usually expect from the performance. When the boost mode goes into action, and that actually pulls on zero cylinders, you just get the sense of urgency to rush to the most exciting part of the track: a tight hairpin turn hair on the left. But before we get there, let's go quickly under the sheet to see what both engines are doing right now.
The front electric motor is mounted parallel to the front axle and can reach a maximum power of 125 kW or 168 horsepower and a torque of 182.2 lb-ft. Its counterpart at the rear is rated at 140 kW or 188 horsepower and 231 lb-ft of torque. Two-stage planetary gearboxes – with a unique gear range – transmit power to the drive axles.
Each engine is equipped with its own electronic power module, which works in conjunction with the drive control unit to process sensor data from the accelerator pedal, new brakes and the engine. electric all-wheel drive system. It's the latter who brought me this side entertainment, and although Audi is not quite new to quattro cars, its operation is very different.
Like the Q8's mechanical quattro system, the idea is simple: watch what's happening on the front and rear wheels and feed the power that needs it or has the most traction, as quickly as possible. In cases where the Q8's quattro relies on a mechanical connection between the front and rear axles, the e-tron balances electronically.
As I said before, the e-tron will primarily use the rear engine in normal or quiet driving. The torque is therefore skewed toward the rear axle, giving the SUV the kind of thrust and driving dynamics of a powered car. If more power is required, or if driving conditions require better traction at the front, the system can also power the front axle. But this system is not limited to reacting to wheel spinning.
For example, it can predict if the e-tron will slip when you attack a turn, or if you risk understeering or oversteering. When this happens, the quattro transmission takes only 30 milliseconds to react, much faster than a mechanical transmission would require. This is particularly noticeable when each wheel independently provides torque control when entering and exiting at higher speeds via the handling sections of the track. Think of sharp surgical reactions, because the central suspension control unit provides a wheel slip 50 times faster than a mechanical version, and then automatically brakes the inner wheels in the turns in order to push the torque towards outside and tighten the bend.
With the vast salt beds on which to play, Audi has encouraged not only to test all modes of driving, but also to try e-tron to size with ESC, ESC Sport, ESC Off with DriveSelect, then turn off ESC altogether. It means that you are essentially alone.
It also means that you can drive the e-tron like crazy, which I did, without thinking about the configuration of the transmission required for a given route. The system works perfectly in the background and, honestly, I could not feel it at all at work. It may be electronics, but you could not have expected a sense of remoteness.
If I had been on ordinary roads, I think that's what I'd like to remember: whatever driving style you choose, you'll have a lot of fun driving the e-tron. As I often traveled sideways, accompanied by huge plumes of dust, my attention was elsewhere. There, my great achievement has been to notice all the time you are losing between ESC maneuvers at higher speeds, such as when I was pushing in the tight maneuvers section and runway performance. The hairpin section can be processed regardless of whether the ESC is enabled or disabled, although you have more control by turning it off. This means a wider drift radius and a much higher speed.
SUVs are not generally known to be sports cars, but the e-tron has never felt less than centered. This combination of instant torque and clever quattro that directed him in the most efficient direction gave me an accurate idea of what the front and rear ends were doing at all times, until the car got up.
The technology does not stop there. Audi fitted the 2019 e-tron with a standard five-link front and rear air suspension system; thus, manipulating the pipe selection system modifies the driving and steering parameters, but also modifies the behavior of the adaptive suspension. Unusually, the e-tron receives air springs that individually adapt to road conditions, adjusting compression and rebound on all four wheels continuously while driving.
The air suspension also means the ability to adjust the ride height, which is particularly useful for off-road driving. In off-road mode, the suspension will lift the e-tron to increase ground clearance by 35 millimeters or 1.4 inches. Select the "lift" mode and the suspension increases another 0.6 inches. Back on paved roads, the suspension will automatically lower the e-tron by at least 26 millimeters or 1.0 inches of its standard height, to reduce wind resistance and improve aerodynamics.
The next day, I had the chance to see the lifting mode in action, taking away the e-tron in a "safari" designed to mimic a little what people might live in if they took off network in a cabin in the woods. Whether you're on the road or off-road, with a 50:50 axle load distribution and an additional 45% torsional stiffness compared to the classic SUV, I'm confident that the e-tron is ready for anything one can reasonably expect the owner to intermingle.
Off the grid, it is best not to use the preferred e-tron fuel, but with a 95 kWh lithium-ion battery, you should have enough to leave the highway. Mounted in the ground, between the axles for optimal weight distribution, the battery can travel about 248 km under full load, at least for the European test cycle.
This extremely clever energy recovery system helps to achieve this number. Lift the accelerator and, as in all electric vehicles, the e-tron uses its electric motors as generators to convert kinetic energy into energy to power the batteries. What is more interesting is the way Audi uses braking. Depress the brake pedal and the e-tron uses a brand new electro-hydraulic actuator to combine regenerative braking with a small contribution from traditional disc brakes to maximize the amount of recoverable electricity.
Audi tells me that 90% of the time, electric motors can brake the e-tron enough without the need for normal brakes. Indeed, by slowing down from 60 mph, the system can recover a maximum of 220 kW, which is frankly surprising in the segment of electric vehicles in series. As you expected, everything remains invisible to the driver: the pedal feel does not change. In fact, the difference is in the range. Audi claims that its system is responsible for nearly 30% of the 248 miles traveled by the e-tron.
In the end, Audi does not consider the e-tron to be a sports car, but that's probably the case. "Sport" in the SUV is not just about marketing: the combination of quattro, electric powertrain and efficient brakes was more than enough to tackle Audi's challenging journey and left me pretty much in doubt that e-tron is in place to handle what more conventional roads could throw at it.
When Audi offered me a chance on the same circuit but at night, with nothing but the headlights of the EV to guide me, this is testament to the car's handling and electronic systems that even with the controller turned off, I had no problem moving up close. at my speeds during the day. I have photographed the video above with a night vision camera. In reality, the visibility was much worse!
Much remains to be said about the 2019 e-tron. I was impressed by the quietness of the cabin, not to mention the interior design, technology, fit and finish, and I'll go into the details in a later article. For the moment, though, if there's one thing you can be absolutely sure of, it's the following: if electric cars had the reputation of being fast in a straight line but heavy in turns, Audi has solved this problem decisively. Bravo, e-tron, bravo.
Source link
