The cockpit of the Audi RS Q e-tron: cutting-edge technology to win the Dakar

It could be the cockpit of an aircraft. But this is the cockpit of the Audi RS Q e-tron, the “office” where Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz will work closely (and I mean that quite literally) with a common goal: to finish the Rally Dakar, and to do so in the best possible position. Chances of victory? We won’t deny it, it is a true challenge for a pioneering car like the RS Q e-tron. Let us recall that it uses an innovative electric propulsion system, with a combustion engine on board that has no connection to the wheels, but works as an electricity generator to charge the battery and supply power to the electric motors while driving.

Even so, after the car’s first tests in Morocco and having verified its potential, Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz have made it clear, and have already stated that their goal is victory.

Up to seven screens

Audi has already revealed the most important details of the car in terms of its technical side, but we had not yet seen its final interior. Now, the brand of the four rings shares some images of the real control center of the RS Q e-tron, where, more than ever, the various functions are redistributed between the driver and the co-driver.

Things have changed a great deal in the Dakar in this respect since the roadbook became digital and participants no longer receive the route for the next stage the day before, but 15 minutes before the start each morning. This forces co-drivers to orient themselves in the terrain and provide information to the driver to follow the route by consulting the digital roadbook. To do this, Lucas Cruz has two tablets that are operated through a remote control; it would be impossible to do so by touch in a car travelling at 170 km/h across dunes, dodging rocks and jumping over tracks. Only if these devices fail may the co-driver resort to the paper roadbook, which is supplied sealed and cannot be consulted – except in the event of a failure of the digital system – without incurring a penalty.

But navigation is not the only task of the co-driver on board the RS Q e-tron. In the centre of the dashboard there is a panel of switches with individual keys for 24 predefined assignments… and different levels can be configured so that, at the touch of a button, these switches perform another equal number of additional functions. From here, for example, the usual maximum speeds in limited zones, the air conditioning and the disconnection of systems that could fail during the route are controlled…

Multifunction steering wheel with eight buttons

Above this control panel, a screen provides information on all the car’s systems, including the tyre pressure, the brake force distributor… Everything is colour-coded: green highlights the systems that are working correctly, and red if an error occurs.

As for the driver, although they no longer need to use the gear lever because the RS Q e-tron’s electric propulsion system does not need a transmission as such (only forward or reverse), they have eight buttons on the steering wheel. From here they directly control the horn or the windscreen wipers, although time markers can also be activated to record data in the software system, for example, an anomaly. Next to the steering wheel, the main control is the large handbrake lever, which is connected to the energy recovery system during braking.

The main information screen for the driver is located behind the steering wheel, with data on speed, wheel pressure or alerts. Above it are two additional screens that act as repeaters of relevant information: on the left, with the compass heading, and on the right, with the speed at which the car is travelling at any given moment.

Image gallery Audi RS Q e-tron