Audi 'e Performance' Research Project Complete

After three years of research, Audi announced today that it’s e performance electric car research project is complete.

During the course of that research, the automaker’s engineers gained valuable information that will likely influence any of the brand’s e-tron products in the future. After all, Audi researchers hoped to develop an adaptable architecture for electric cars that could fit into a variety of cars including plug-in hybrids.

It went about the task by breaking the project down into a dozen specific items to be researched ranging from energy storage to dynamic stability control. Initially much of the research was simulation-based, but eventually it yielded the F12 e Sport seen above.

The car features a drivetrain different from the R8 e-tron electric sports car which uses a 49 kWh battery pack. In the F12 e Sport’s case, it’s a 38 kWh pack in play composed of 200 individual battery cells. That battery pack is built with cast aluminum cells meant to absorb energy and minimize damage to the battery during a crash, potentially saving drivers from replacing one of the car’s most expensive components.

Audi uses two electric motors in the R8 e-tron – which is another difference from the F12 e Sport shown today.

Instead, this car uses three motors – one of which powers the front axle alone during lower speeds. At higher speeds the other two motors start working to power the rear wheels, offering a total 204 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque.

Drive, neutral, park and reverse functions are all controlled by buttons on the center tunnel, but the rest of the cabin is managed through a removable tablet computer.