DYNAMISM, EFFICIENCY, AND ELEGANCE: THE AUDI E-TRON GT QUATTRO AND THE AUDI RS E-TRON GT
The all-electric Audi e-tron SUV and the e-tron Sportback SUV coupé were the pioneers with which Audi embarked on its successful electric mobility journey. Now the brand is making its second statement: The four-door e-tron GT coupé is a gran turismo with dynamic elegance and an Audi such as the world has never seen before. The e-tron GT2 is powerful, sporty, confident, and emotive. It reflects all the passion with which Audi develops and builds cars.
The RS e-tron GT3 and the e-tron GT quattro2 are designed as powerful, confident cars with excellent everyday usability and long-distance capability. They combine perfection, fascination, and innovation to form a technical work of art: Their driving characteristics are founded on progressive engineering skill, the drive is pure fascination, and the design arose from the passion for beauty and perfection that is typical for Audi.
Sporty, electric, pioneering: The e-tron GT is the electric figurehead from Audi
The Audi e-tron GT2 represents yet another chapter in Audi’s history: It is a supreme gran turismo, and the RS version3 comes with particularly pronounced dynamic handling. It combines an expressive design language with powerful electric output, high efficiency, and excellent everyday usability. These properties make it a pioneer full of character that is shaping the future of the brand. The e-tron GT brings “Vorsprung durch Technik” to the road and emphasizes the Audi standard as the company’s electric figurehead: sporty, electric, and pioneering.
The Audi e-tron GT is targeted in particular toward sophisticated, performance-oriented car enthusiasts who attach great value to sustainability, design, and high-tech. The majority are middle-aged and well educated, which is why they have a high monthly income and can afford multiple vehicles. They share their passion for sophisticated acceleration and their love for detail, as well as maximum precision and top quality with Audi.
The exterior of the Audi e-tron GT is a dynamic work of art. Each surface and each line is harmonious, from the headlights, which are available with Audi laser light upon request, to the large diffuser at the rear. In combination, the details create a sculpture that looks like it was shaped by the wind. The body line is extremely aerodynamic, and the drag coefficient is just 0.24. The interior also corresponds to that of a classic gran turismo: The driver and front passenger seats are installed in a sporty low position and separated by a wide center console, and the rear seats provide sufficient space even for adults. The progressive elegance of the interior design emphasizes the car’s character.
A gran turismo is a sporty touring car with excellent dynamic handling, a confident glider. The Audi e-tron GT shares this character. Depending on the model, its electric motors output 350 kW (476 PS) or 440 kW (598 PS), thereby allowing dynamic spurts. The range of up to 487 kilometers (302.6 mi) (in accordance with the WLTP), which is made possible by the battery and its net capacity of 85 kWh, is equally important. Its 800-volt technology enables fast DC charging with an output of up to 270 kW. The suspension is also based in the balance of dynamism and comfort, thanks to technologies such as Audi drive select, all-wheel steering, controlled damping, three-chamber air suspension, electric all-wheel drive, and the rear-axle differential lock. The wheel sizes range up to 21 inches, and the brake disks – which are available in carbon-fiber ceramic as an option – have a diameter of up to 420 millimeters (16.5 in).
Interior: sporty and luxuriously comfortable
The strong focus of the interior on the driver, inspired by the monoposto idea, is a characteristic of sporty Audi models and the e-tron GT in particular. The central dashboard is tilted slightly to the left, and the pronounced three-dimensional instrument panel looks light and lean. Its upper section is drawn away from the driver in a large, elegant arc. The display of the Audi virtual cockpit plus stands freely in this space, while the MMI touch monitor is surrounded by a black piano finish bezel that seems to float above the instrument panel. If the ambient lighting package plus is on board (standard in the RS model), it features a lasered and backlit “e-tron” badge in the right-hand section.
Controls and displays
In terms of controls and displays, the e-tron GT quattro2 and the RS e-tron GT3 follow the current Audi concept: All information appears on two large displays. The driver operates the Audi virtual cockpit plus (12.3 inches) via the multifunction steering wheel and controls the central MMI touch display (10.1 inches) via touch. Behind the control and display functions in the e-tron GT quattro2 and the RS e-tron GT3 is the state-of-the-art third generation modular infotainment platform (MIB 3).
The freestanding Audi virtual cockpit plus behind the flat-bottomed steering wheel provides a high resolution of 1,920 x 720 pixels and allows the driver to switch between three screens: classic, sport, and e-tron. In the e-tron view, the focus is on the large powermeter that displays the status of the drive and all important information on electric driving. The driver manages the infotainment, navigation, comfort functions, and text input via the MMI touch display, which provides acoustic feedback.
The third control level is the natural voice control which understands many expressions from everyday language. It uses both onboard information and knowledge from the cloud to respond to the input. The optional head-up display can display important information on the windshield. The image window is in the driver’s field of vision, with the projection appearing to float about three meters (9.8 ft) in front of them.
The personalization is a convenient function of the Audi e-tron GT2. Up to six users can each store their preferred settings in individual profiles. The data is stored in the customer’s myAudi account. The car adjusts the individual settings when the driver’s door is opened.
Infotainment and Audi connect
Eleven antennas, all of which are integrated where they cannot be seen, connect the e-tron GT2 with the outside world. They receive and transmit audio, LTE, Bluetooth, and GPS signals, thereby connecting the electric gran turismo to the environment and its owner in many different ways. The customer can control many functions via the free myAudi app on their smartphone.
The MMI navigation plus media center comes as standard in both e-tron GT models. It supports the fast LTE Advanced transmission standard with integrated Wi-Fi hotspot for the passengers’ devices. The navigation system offers destination suggestions based on previously driven routes, and route calculation both in the car and online is performed on the servers of service provider HERE. To do this, it uses real-time data from the entire traffic situation.
The Audi connect online services are split into two packages. The Audi connect emergency call & service with Audi connect remote & control section enables the remote control of the locking system, charging, and climate control. The Audi connect navigation & infotainment package includes services such as traffic information online, navigation with Google Earth™, and Amazon Alexa. Car-to-X services output warnings regarding hazards and help with finding free parking spots on the roadside or allow the driver to surf the green wave by communicating with traffic lights.
The e-tron route planner, a further service from Audi connect, calculates the fastest route with the shortest possible charging stops. In doing so, it also takes traffic data and the driver’s driving profile into account. The e-tron route planner is connected to the car’s thermal management. This enables high-speed charging if the driver has selected a powerful DC terminal as the destination in the navigation system. Roughly half an hour before arrival at the terminal, the thermal management intensifies the cooling of the battery so that it can charge as quickly as possible. Should the battery still be very cold shortly after the car is started in winter, it is heated for fast charging.
Attractive hardware modules supplement the infotainment portfolio. The Audi phone box, which is available in two versions, links smartphones to the vehicle’s antenna and charges them inductively.
Driver assist systems
The Audi e-tron GT quattro2 and the RS e-tron GT3 are being introduced to the market with a wide range of driver assist systems. The Audi pre sense front and Audi pre sense basic safety systems are standard, as are the lane departure warning system and cruise control system. The optional systems are subdivided into the “Tour,” “City” and “Park” packages.The assist package plus integrates all three of them. The night vision assist and surround view cameras (also available in the “Park” package) are available in addition. All systems use the central driver assistance controller (zFAS), which uses the sensors’ data to continuously compute an exact model of the vehicle’s environment.
The adaptive cruise assist, which assists the driver with longitudinal and lateral guidance in many situations, is the most important system in the “Tour” package. When the predictive efficiency assist (standard) is active, the adaptive cruise assist decelerates and accelerates the gran turismo in such a way that it consumes as little energy as possible.
The (remote) park assist plus is one of the highlights of the “Park” package. It maneuvers the Audi e-tron GT2 into and out of a parallel or bay parking space at the push of a button. The driver is responsible for the maneuver. They can remain inside the car or get out – in this case, they start and supervise the parking maneuver via the myAudi app on their smartphone. By keeping the corresponding button pressed, the car will roll into the space, in multiple maneuvers if necessary. Once it has reached its final position, it switches off the drive, activates the parking lock, and locks the doors.
