Website Reviews

The latest ideas in car design are embodied in concept cars which give the manufacturers the opportunity of judging the public’s response to them. There’s bound to be something that will appeal to all of us whether the concept is technical innovation or design. For 2011 I present five cool concept cars.

Volkswagen XL1 Concept

First unveiled at the Qatar Motor Show the Volkswagen XL1 Concept puts the emphasis on economy. The car is not heavy on account of its strong yet light carbon fibre body. A 20kw lithium-ion battery pack will take the XL1 twenty miles at which point a 800cc 48hp engine takes over. A further efficient 320 miles can be squeezed out of the small 2.64 gallon fuel tank. It’s a mystery as to how Volkswagen will manage to provide production models of this concept at a reasonable price. Read the full story

Audi Concepts: Audi presents the highlight of the IAA 2009: the e-tron, a high-performance sports car with a purely electric drive system. Four motors – two each at the front and rear axles – drive the wheels, making the concept car a true quattro. Producing 230 kW (313 hp) and 4,500 Nm (3,319.03 lb-ft) of torque, the two-seater accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (0 – 62.14 mph) in 4.8 seconds, and from 60 to 120 km/h (37.28 – 74.56 mph) in 4.1 seconds. The lithium-ion battery provides a truly useable energy content of 42.4 kilowatt hours to enable a range of approximately 248 kilometers.

The performance figures are by no means the only evidence of the consistent and holistic strategy. The design makes it clear that the e-tron belongs in the major leagues of sports cars, and the package takes into account the specific realities of an electric vehicle. The battery is directly behind the passenger cabin for an optimal center of gravity and axle load distribution.

The e-tron is able to freely distribute the powerful torque of its four electric motors to the wheels as required. This so-called torque vectoring allows for dazzling dynamics and an undreamed-of level of agility and precision when cornering.

Audi has taken a new and in some cases revolutionary approach to many of the technical modules. A heat pump is used to efficiently warm up and heat the interior. The drive system, the power electronics and the battery are controlled by an innovative thermal management system that is a crucial component for achieving the car’s range without compromising its high level of interior comfort. Networking the vehicle electronics with the surroundings, which is referred to as car-to-x communication, opens new dimensions for the optimization of efficiency, safety and convenience. Read the full story