2018 Los Angeles Motor Show: Audi shows off four-door electric e-tron GT

- Show car gives foretaste of third all-electric Audi production car

- Four-door gran turismo with electric drive

- Series production starts in late 2020

Audi has taken the covers off one of its stars of the 2018 Los Angeles Motor Show. With the electric powered e-tron GT concept, a four-door coupe is making its debut as Audi’s showstopper. The series-production counterpart is set to follow in around two years.

Flat, wide and with a long wheelbase, the e-tron GT concept reflects classic GT proportions with its 4.96-metre length, 1.96-metre width and 1.38-metre height. In terms of design, the broad lines and the functional elements of the body as well as the air vents of the wheel arches and the rear diffuser mean business. The hallmark Audi single frame grille is located in the centre of the front section. Compared with the two e-tron SUVs, its architecture is much more horizontal. The top half comes with a cover painted in body colour. Its surface structure is reminiscent of the typical honeycomb pattern of the grille on the Audi RS models. The arrow-shaped front section also emphasises the matrix LED headlights with laser high beam. Meanwhile, a light strip runs across the entire width of the rear. This strip dissipates at the outer edges, in the actual lighting units, into individual wedge-shaped LED segments. This design links the e-tron GT with the series-production SUV e-tron.

Separate electric motors are fitted to the front and rear axles. In both cases these are permanently synchronous motors. They put down the torque onto the road via all four wheels. An electric quattro to be precise, since there is no mechanical link between the front and rear axle. The electronic control system coordinates the drive between the axles as well as between left and right wheels.

As for efficiency and battery storage, the range of the concept car is claimed to be over 400kms, determined according to the new WLTP standard. The required drive energy comes from a lithium-ion battery with an energy content of more than 90 kWh, which takes up the entire underfloor area between the front and rear axle with its flat design. The battery in the e-tron GT concept can be charged in several ways: using a cable which is connected behind the flap in the left front wing, or by means of contactless induction with Audi Wireless Charging. 

Wired charging is much faster as the four-door coupe is fitted with an 800-volt system. This substantially reduces charging times compared with conventional systems that are currently in use. Thus it takes around 20 minutes to recharge the battery to 80 percent of its capacity. 

The e-tron GT concept is a show car for now. The technology in it was developed in collaboration with Porsche although we would like to add that the project will be developed into a series-production model by the end of 2020. Audi has also announced that Initial deliveries will start in early 2021.