Well, well, news has leaked out over the internet that Audi are developing a brand new ‘City car’. The new Audi City Car (Audi Urban Concept) will not be leaking anything else though as it is an all electric car.
On the 9th August 2011 the concept car went on a test run in Munich city centre and this is when ‘spy shots’ were taken. These shots rapidly appeared on the internet and as a result Audi has brought forward the press release for its futuristic little city vehicle.
As you will note in this little sneak video there’s a hint of the Audi R8 in the design, e.g. look at the door handles, the grill and the two seat design…but its fair to say they have little more than that in common.
It has two seats in a ‘1+1’ layout and it’s incredibly lightweight as a result of a body made from carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) and some impressive freestanding 21-inch wheels.
CFRP is a cutting edge material which Audi have adopted in this car which they claim is designed from scratch. They are trying to create something that combines ‘a racing car, a roadster, a fun car and an urban car’ all in one. All superfluous weight is cut out, claims Audi.
Heres a strange feature design you might not have heard of before, both driver and passenger access the car through the tailgate! The cockpit features even more CFRP to – so that once again… yes you’ve guessed it – the total car weight is minimised.
The vehicle’s power comes from 2 electric motors which are powered by a lithium ion battery, and Audi claims that this offers ‘powerful’ acceleration and decent range, though they do not provide figures for either.
They also do not offer any timescale for production, but we expect this info to be released at the official unveiling which will take place in Frankfurt in September.
