Audi A6 L e-tron concept

At the 2012 Beijing Auto Show, Audi unveiled a new concept: the Audi A6 L e-tron, a plug-in hybrid for the premium segment. Under its skin it hides a very powerful 211 CV engine and a 95 CV electric motor, which can only drive for up to 80 kilometres.

Hybrids are the future, or at least the nearest future. CO2 emissions must be reduced, above all in urban centres. Cutting consumption is also a saving for the wallet, given the rising prices of both diesel and petrol in recent months. That is why Audi, based on the A6 L it produces in China, has decided to build a premium electric vehicle, with advanced technology and a design of the highest standing.

Elegance in its design and bodywork

I’ll save the best for last, so I’ll start with the design. This concept oozes elegance and, at the same time, sportiness. Starting with the dimensions, this saloon measures 5.02 m in length, 1.87 m in width and just 1.46 m in height. The long bonnet, the lines of the flanks and the roofline give the car, overall, an athletic, sporty look.

But the details go further. At the front, as on the rest of the e-tron models, the Singleframe grille stands out, with its horizontal bars and almost closed air intakes. Next to it, LED headlights. The 21-inch wheels also make the car look more athletic while remaining elegant.

The bodywork is identical to that of the Audi A6 L: extremely light, rigid and safe, made up of nearly 10% aluminium, so it weighs almost 15% less than a bodyshell made entirely of steel.

Luxury lies in the interior and its equipment

The exterior is also reflected in the interior, where we find a luxurious design with a huge number of details that create very complete finishes. The most distinctive element is the wrap-around, an arc running below the windscreen that wraps around the driver and front passenger.

The instrument panel, together with the on-board computer, is in keeping with what this saloon deserves. Operation is therefore intuitive. The powermeter has replaced the rev counter. The coloured segments show the operating mode the A6 is in at any given moment. Another indicator shows the state of charge of the battery.

All these functions can be checked on a large central screen, which displays a bar chart of average consumption and the amount of energy recovered at five-minute intervals.

Good comfort is not lacking either: all the seats are generously sized and include luxury features as standard, such as ventilation or massage. They also have automatic climate control and ambient lighting that adds a greater sense of “hospitality”.

Driver assistance

Safety and driver assistance are also present. The Audi active lane assist will help the driver stay within the lane, while the Audi side assist helps when changing from one lane to another. The night vision assistant can detect pedestrians from a long distance. The parking assistant, meanwhile, is a great help when parking, especially for “parking klutzes” like me.

What else? A navigation system, the MMI Navigation Plus, with hard drive and touch panel, called MMI touch, which recognises up to 29,000 Chinese characters.

206 CV

I didn’t struggle too much to find a “subtitle” for the engine section. This concept combines a 211 CV 2.0 TFSI with a 95 CV electric motor, which together add up to a total output of 306 CV. Not bad, is it?

The battery, a liquid-cooled lithium-ion unit, is located at the rear of the vehicle, in an area protected against impacts. Using the electric motor alone allows a distance of 80 kilometres at a steady speed of 60 km/h. To improve range, the hybrid system’s control unit selects the most appropriate operating mode for each situation.

This makes it clear that the A6 L can run in three different ways: with the combustion engine, with the electric motor, or in hybrid mode. As might be expected, it has an energy recovery mode when decelerating and an intense acceleration mode in which both motors work together.

As we can see, elegance and sportiness go hand in hand, from the exterior and interior design right through to the engine. All that remains is for Audi to start series production of this saloon and, why not, bring it to Europe too.