Back in 2012, Audi had amazed us by not only coming out with a full electric version of the R8, but also by showing us that the new e-Tron is still a fast car by taking it around the Nurburgring in 8:09.099. But just when we thought that Audi is going in the right direction, they dropped the bomb by announcing the cancellation of the e-Tron from the production lines early last year.
But that was last year’s news. In 2014, Audi is determined to revive this electrifying project, with orders coming from Audi’s technical chief Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg himself. Although no specific date has been set on when it will be available in the market, the development of the program has resumed under Hackenberg’s instructions.
“I had a deeper look into the technology and found the problems were the range and the cost, so we are currently working on optimizing those. The original concept was based on battery modules, we’ve now taken the step to use a different type of battery,” explained Hackenberg.
An all-new R8 will be arriving in the showrooms in 2015, but he confirmed that the general layout of the R8 e-Tron could be used in either model.
