Automotive

Electric Audi A6 e-tron concept beams out video games while charging

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First look at a future member of the Audi EV family
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Audi previews the A6 e-tron
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The A6 e-tron wears a unique OLED digital taillight array
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Audi says that the slower, more efficient A6 e-trons will have 0-62 times under 7 seconds, with the sportier variants under 4 seconds
Audi
Audi's newest concept is A6 by name but definitely shares more in common with the A7
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A close-up of the OLED taillights
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Audi revealed the A6 e-tron concept at Auto Shanghai this week
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The A6 e-tron concept measures just under 5 m (16.4 ft) long, and Audi promises plenty of interior space owing to the long wheelbase and electric packaging
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One trick up the A6 e-tron's sleeve: its Digital Matrix LED headlamps can cast games onto surfaces to provide a little leisure while stopped, perfect for charging breaks
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Audi says its design team created a game specially for the A6 concept
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The interior design sketch shows a simplified digital cockpit layout
Audi
The new A6 e-tron concept debuts Audi's Premium Platform Electric, which will underpin a variety of future vehicles
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Audi A6 e-tron concept
Audi
The A6 e-tron comes powered by a 469-hp dual-motor all-wheel drive
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Audi A6 e-tron concept
Audi
First look at a future member of the Audi EV family
Audi
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Audi A6 e-tron concept projected turn indicators
Audi
View gallery - 16 images

Audi is pushing forward with its electric design, adding e-tron power to the A6 lineage. Debuted at Auto Shanghai 2021, the all-new A6 e-tron concept previews a sporty fastback sedan planned for future launch. The new concept uses a combination of LEDs and OLEDs to light up the road ahead, send out warnings and messages to other road users, and even host a little outdoor gaming.

An A6 by name, the A6 e-tron wears a smooth Sportback shape that's usually labeled "A7." Audi leaned heavily on the wind tunnel in shaping the 195-in (496-cm) concept, which has a drag coefficient of 0.22. Much like Mercedes did with the all-new EQS, Audi worked to minimize sharp lines and angles, sculpting rounder, three-dimensional surfaces that show an interplay between convex and concave. Quattro-style wheel arches hint at the dual-motor electric drive powering all four 22-in wheels.

Audi says that the slower, more efficient A6 e-trons will have 0-62 times under 7 seconds, with the sportier variants under 4 seconds
Audi

The A6 e-tron concept's smooth Singleframe grille sits front and center, leaving the dark, cavernous intakes surrounding it to cool the battery, brakes and driveline. The pencil-thin headlamp design obscures the complexity inside the lenses, where Audi's Digital Matrix LED technology blasts bright light from the minimal surface area. More than mere lamps, the headlights are also projectors, capable of casting an image several meters wide onto a surface ahead. Audi even designed its own game for the purpose, which it imagines driver and passenger playing with smartphone-based game controllers while the A6 e-tron powers up at a charging station.

Audi says its design team created a game specially for the A6 concept
Audi

The rear lighting is equally dramatic, defined by a full-width OLED array capable of creating customizable three-dimensional signatures and dynamic displays. Meanwhile, lighting projectors at the corners and sides communicate with both A6 e-tron occupants and surrounding road users. For instance, one projector shines a greeting on the ground as the driver approaches, while others flash turn signals and warnings on the ground during the ride.

A close-up of the OLED taillights
Audi

The A6 e-tron concept previews the new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) that Audi is working on jointly with Porsche. The platform carries a flat-mounted battery pack between the axles and can be scaled in battery size and wheelbase to serve as the basis for many vehicles. Beyond C-segment cars like the A6, Audi will use the platform for B- and D-segment vehicles, and both low-riding cars and higher-riding SUVs.

For the A6 e-tron concept, Audi wired up a 100-kWh battery to a dual-motor quattro all-wheel electric drive that puts out up to 469 hp (350 kW) and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque. It estimates that the A6 e-tron can travel up to 435 miles (700 km, WLTP) per charge and sprint from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in under four seconds, though hitting both those benchmarks would take two separate A6 e-trons, as there will be both efficiency-optimized and performance variants. Thanks to the PPE's 800-V electricals, the A6 e-tron can DC fast-charge with up to 270 kW, adding 186 miles (300 km) in as little as 10 minutes and bringing the 100-kWh battery from five to 80 percent in under 25 minutes.

One last feature worth noting, the A6 e-tron's light shade of "Heliosilver" paint is designed to assist in efficiency. It's not quite air conditioning-grade pure white, but Audi says it does reflect much of the Sun's thermal energy, thus cutting down on the battery draw needed for air conditioning.

The interior design sketch shows a simplified digital cockpit layout
Audi

We'd love to get a look at what the interior of a video game-beaming electric sedan looks like, but Audi provides only the rough sketch above. The company plans to debut the first PPE vehicles in the second half of 2022, manufacturing them in both Europe and China. Moving forward, it will leverage the new electric platform toward rapidly expanding its global electric offerings and sales.

Source: Audi

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5 comments
Username
That car has a face made for radio.
Daishi
The nose/grill of electric cars especially seems like such a contentious item I wish more auto companies would just offer body kits as a configurable vehicle option from the factory. Maybe they could crowdsource out the design and license the best 2-3 to customers as an option vs the standard nose. I could think of a few challenges but offering something without a fake grill airbrushed onto it shouldn't be too hard.
WB
its funny all these companies trying to copy tesla. Take the interior no buttons super scarce... they all show these..then when these concept studies drop in real life it's always the same old stuff. Tesla meanwhile delivers these cool interiors.
Then why would I want a car that permanently hauls around a video game projector out of it's front lights? seriously? Leave that gimmick stuff out and give me more range or cheaper price or whatever.
Daishi
@WB That's part of why the Model S is one of the most significant vehicles in automotive history. This is mostly a copy launched 10 years behind.
MarkGovers
Beautiful car, I hope the final output is as nice. However the nose seems a slightly different shade of silver or reflects light a bit differently and makes the nose stand out. I would prefer the nose, while we are all learning to get used to non-grill cars, remain subtle.