Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

2015 Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2015-...photo-1593267/


A little more than a year ago, I drove an Audi A3 E-Tron prototype – an early concept electric vehicle built on the outgoing second-generation A3 platform. While I was impressed with the technology, its 3,800-pound weight, 10-second 0-60 time and 90-mile range will likely put it only mid-pack, at best, among its future competitive set. But Audi promised bigger and better things would come.

I didn't have to wait long. Immediately following the Los Angeles Auto Show, Audi asked me come drive its all-new successor built on the company's third-generation A3 chassis. Compared to last year's model, the new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) boasts a lighter curb weight, quicker acceleration and six times the range. Calling it improved is an understatement. Best of all, it's heading to production.

Technically speaking, the 2015 Audi A3 Sportback E-Tron is a parallel hybrid, meaning its electric motor is sandwiched between a combustion engine and an automatic transmission – either, or both, is capable of powering the front wheels. The gasoline-powered engine is a direct-injected and turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder, rated at 150 horsepower. The transmission is a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox. A 75-kW electric motor sits between the two. Water is used to cool the gasoline engine, the electric motor and the battery pack – there are three independent closed loops.

Since Audi engineered the A3's platform from the outset to accommodate a variety of powertrains, the hybrid system is hidden discreetly. The compact powerplant is transversely mounted in the nose of the chassis, while the 96-cell lithium-ion battery pack, which weighs 276 pounds, is wholly contained beneath the second row seat cushion (in addition to the battery's sturdy diecast aluminum casing, there are metal rails beneath each side of the underbelly to protect the battery pack from raised obstacles such as tall speed bumps). A 10.5-gallon unleaded fuel tank, feeding the combustion engine, is located above the rear axle. All told, the A3 Sportback E-Tron tips the scales at just 3,470 pounds, which is actually quite light compared to most hybrid vehicles.

Driving Notes

• The only significant visual difference between the combustion A3 and its PHEV sibling is found in the primary instrument panel. The cluster features two large analog dials, each with a smaller LED segment in the lower right corner. The left needle sweeps the state of regeneration (or output), while the right needle is a traditional speedometer. The smaller LEDs, which are too small in my opinion, display the state of charge and fuel level. Between the analog dials is a color multifunction display. Everything else, from the trick pop-up navigation screen to the nearly flush silver stop/start button on the console, is the same.
• Audi has programmed the E-Tron to start and initially run in EV mode, regardless of outside temperature or charge level (charging from zero takes less than four hours with a home 240-volt connection). In this near-silent configuration, the electric motor pulls well and zipping around crowded streets was uneventful. Range in pure EV mode is about 31 miles. The five-door will hit 80 miles per hour on battery power alone, meaning it will run emission-free on even the fastest of our highways.
• If the accelerator is pushed into kick-down while operating in EV mode, the combustion engine springs to life to provide assistance right up to the Audi's impressive 138-mph top speed. Ease back off the throttle, and the vehicle will immediately switch back to electric operation. The transitions are very quick and can barely be detected from the passenger cabin.
• The beauty of the parallel hybrid is that the both the motor and engine are able to work as a team. Press the accelerator all the way to the floor from a standstill and the combined power output is an impressive 204 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, which is good enough to hit the 60 mph benchmark in about 7.4 seconds. Whether on battery or combustion power, the six-speed dual-clutch gearbox delivers a very natural shift feel. The A3 isn't tuned to be sporty, but when prodded it reveals a very refreshing, energetic side.
• Once the battery is depleted, the turbocharged four-cylinder is solely tasked with propulsion. It runs buttery-smooth, feeling as refined as the four-cylinder engine in an A4, and it will continue to propel the E-Tron for another 535 miles – New York to Toledo isn't a problem. More impressive than its range is the ability of the A3 to completely recharge its battery in just over 30 minutes of highway driving (a trick we first saw in the 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid). This function allows owners to arrive at their destination with their battery at 100 percent, for pure EV travel at both ends of the trip.
• The stock A3 is a sporty little runner, but the additional 400-plus pounds that the E-Tron carries unfortunately promotes some negative behavior in the handling category. The battery pack's rearward location actually improves weight distribution (reportedly at 55/45, front-to-rear), but the suspension is best described as soft. Even though initial turn-in, transitional handling and straight-line stability were solid, the E-Tron dipped and bounced over large undulations with three adults on board. At the bottom of one deep dip, it unexpectedly reached the end of its spring compression. For an A3, a vehicle from an automaker that usually excels in suspension tuning, it felt out of character. Let's hope the automaker addresses the shortcoming before it goes into production.
• Oddly enough, I was most impressed with the A3 E-Tron's brakes – more specifically, how little they're actually used. Even though the vehicle has capable mechanical disc brakes at all four corners, they are only used during hard to severe braking. In nearly all instances, the electric motor will apply very strong regenerative forces to bring the vehicle to a stop while the calipers sit idle waiting to be called to duty (the parking brake is mechanical, of course). This arrangement is nothing short of brilliant, as it sends a large amount of recaptured energy back to the battery and it significantly improves the service life of the mechanical brakes. I'm betting the industry adopts its use widespread.
• Of all the hybrid vehicles I have driven over the past five years, the A3 Sportback E-Tron has impressed me the most. Audi has raised the bar in the segment by introducing a no-compromise vehicle that delivers lively performance, strong EV capabilities and an impressive combined range through a smooth and seamless powertrain. Its five-place cabin is comfortable and it provides plenty of utility for those looking to efficiently haul more than just themselves. Look for it in showrooms in early 2015.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/12/18/2...rtback-e-tron/

bagwell

nice, hopefully the price is decent and not ELR-like

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Lol. but yes!

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2015-...photo-2773654/



Over the years, we've had a chance to test a lot of Audi E-Tron vehicles, from very early all-electric prototypes (back then we only got to sit in the passenger seat) to the A6 L E-Tron PHEV and the A1 E-Tron plug-in hybrid. All of them were concepts and promises, merely whispers of what was possible, even as the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and two Tesla models were making waves in the marketplace.

As we learned last year in our Deep Dive of the E-Tron project, all of the concepts, prototypes and rumors have finally come to fruition in this A3 Sportback E-Tron. Previously, we were given a chance to drive a prototype, but it was only very briefly. Last week, we finally got to run a production-representative example through the hilly roads between Vienna, Austria and Munich, Germany. After spending a solid day with Audi's first marketable E-Tron vehicle, we can say that it's a most amazing bit of engineering, in particular for the way that Audi has done so much to hide the fact that this is an electrified vehicle. Not entirely, of course, but the idea was to make the A3 Sportback E-Tron a no-compromise PHEV. And that means it drives and feels, in many ways, like the standard A3 Sportback despite over 700 extra pounds. Oh, and there's a charge port hidden behind the four rings in the grille. .


When you first sit down in the A3 E-Tron, you're greeted by the same dashboard as in the current A3, the same retractable infotainment screen, and the same system controls, including the Multi Media Interface jog dial that moves the on-screen highlighted items in exactly the opposite manner you might expect. Differences include an EV button that cycles through the PHEV's drive modes under the central vents, and a new E-Tron-centric telltale to the left of the speedometer. It shows if you're drawing energy from the battery pack or adding some back. Over 277 miles and using all of the car's drive modes, we managed to reach an average fuel economy of 41.8 miles per gallon. Of those, 52 percent were when we burned gas in the 150-horsepower 1.4 TFSI engine and 48 percent were "emission free," but that's only part of the story.

When you end your drive, the info screen displays what percentage of the miles just driven were conducted on gas and which were emissions-free electric motoring. The latter number includes not only the electricity that you left the charger with, but also EV miles that were generated from the gas engine and regenerative braking.

We're pretty sure EV lovers will be completely impressed by the way the Volkswagen Group has been taking sailing lessons. Used previously in vehicles like the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, the A3 Sportback E-Tron feels unbelievably light when you take your foot off the pedal at highway speeds and simply coast. Some drivers with us in Europe thought the powertain was actually contributing to the forward momentum when their foot was off the accelerator because of how different this feels than in most other vehicles. It wasn't, of course, since all clutches decouple when you coast. Audi's engineers have just made the A3 Sportback E-Tron incredibly efficient once it's already in motion. EV drivers will also want to be able to engage in one-foot driving, they way they might in a Tesla or BMW i3. To get stronger regen, the picture isn't as simple, but there is a way to increase it on demand. Actually, there are three ways.


Let's describe what happens when the A3 Sportback E-Tron ups the regen level, which is possible in all modes except charge mode (more on that later). First, the clutch is activated and connects the 75-kW electric motor to the drivetrain, which is then put in manual transmission mode. Imagine the powertrain using the gears to adjust the regenerative brakes just like it would in a gas-powered manual-transmission vehicle that is downshifted when you're going 55 miles per hour. The friction resistance of the engine acts as braking force. The same sort of thing is happening here, except some of the energy is saved. If you have the adaptive cruise control on and the car slows down automatically, that's because of the brakes, which also regenerate energy into the battery pack.

What confused us at first is that you can engage this 'regen' function by either hitting one of the steering wheel shifter paddles, pushing the shift selector into S or tapping the brakes. They all do the same thing (engage the motor), but that wasn't in any way clear. Tapping the brakes doesn't shift you into manual mode, of course, and if you use the paddles, the car will automatically revert to automatic transmission mode if you don't use them for 10 seconds. This confusing set of parameters will likely become second-nature to someone who uses the A3 Sportback E-Tron as a daily driver, but we didn't totally have it figured out by the time we got to Munich.


What's unsettling is that you need to shift the car back into automatic mode yourself if you're not interested in paddle shifting. Before learning exactly what was happening, we just thought the regen level was increased and that we could revert back to 'coastable' mode somehow. Instead, when we stepped on the accelerator, the buzzsaw engine revved up because we were in the wrong gear. The only way to get the automatic transmission back on line is to wait for 10 seconds or to shift the drive selector over into S and then back into D. Having the right paddle (which does nothing when the auto transmission is engaged) revert the regen level back to normal – and leaving the transmission setting alone unless you're in S – is how we would have designed it.

Before we get to the rest of the drive experience (the highlights of what was different from our Quick Spin in December), let's learn from Audi's Max Huber, who was our guide to understanding the A3 Sportback E-Tron. He, understandably, didn't think we were necessarily on the mark when we said EV-ness of this car is being kept hidden. The designers specifically hid the exhaust pipes to emphasize the electric nature, after all. But he did admit that:


First, while no US price has been set, the A3 Sportback E-Tron starts at around $51,500 in Germany. It will doubtlessly have to be cheaper in North America. Second, we hope you noticed Huber's caveats: "for its size," "for the range that it has."

With that out of the way, let's push the start button and hit the road. The best place to remind yourself that you're in an electric vehicle is around town. When there's charge left in the pack, the E-Tron's cabin is excellently quiet. But aside from this, it doesn't really feel like you're was driving an EV. Thanks to a total system output of 204 horsepower and maximum system torque of 258 pound-feet, the A3's 0-62 mph time is 7.6 seconds (just behind 2.0 TDI Sportback's 7.4 seconds, but quicker than other combustion-powered A3 Sportbacks). For comparison, the BMW i3 hits 62 mph in 7.2 seconds, but we think that the A3 suffers in the all-important 0-30 mph zone. It just feels sluggish – compared to other EVs we've driven – when taking off from a stop light.

And then there's the whine of the 1.4-liter gas engine. Again, if you're driving it normally through town, it's quiet when not needed. When you stomp on the gas pedal, though, you get a tremendous buzzsaw racket when it kicks in. That the noise rocks the cabin in contrast to the delightful silence of the all-EV mode just makes the unavoidable sound that much more noticeable.

Your author has yet to drive the 1.4-liter TFSI gas-only Sportback, which weighs 2,657 pounds compared to the much heftier 3,395 pounds of E-Tron model (that's 738 extra pounds, folks), but in the E-Tron, steering is responsive and feels basically identical to the conventionally powered A3 sedan that was sampled ahead of driving this E-Tron version. Audi knows how to make you feel like the car is turning just as you think of turning, and even when the nav system sent us through increasingly quaint Austrian towns surrounded by fields with curvy roads, we never felt like the car was challenged.

After a half-hour in slow-moving European city driving, our driving companion noticed the brake pedal feeling a bit soft and unresponsive, with a noticeable switch between the friction and regenerative brakes. But at all other times, including shorter stints of city driving and without question on the highway, the brake pedal never came up as an issue. Neither did the regen blending. You step on it, it stops or slows the car. Problem solved.


A word on specs. Audi product marketing's Tobias Meyer said that the European rating is 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers, which is the equivalent of 35 grams of CO2 per km and 156.8 MPGe. That's with the battery involved. Once that's spent (as it was for most of our drive), the numbers drop to 4.5 liters per 100 km, or 52 mpg.

Of course, all this has exactly zero bearing on how the car will perform on America's EPA test cycle, since not only does the European NEDC test traditionally result in much higher fuel economy ratings in the same vehicles than US test, Audi doesn't even know how it's going to configure the car for the States yet. One of the most important things the automaker has to figure out is how much of the 8.8-kWh battery pack it will allow the car to access. In Europe, 7.0 kWh is available to be charged and discharged (the reserve is there to preserve the life of the pack), and filling up from the wall takes two hours and fifteen minutes. Using a Level 2 charger in the US will take about the same time, while a 110v home outlet will take eight hours. There is no DC quick charge option. Huber tells AutoblogGreen that of the other discussions about what needs changing when the E-Tron comes to America, most are cosmetic: the driving modes might get different names, for example.


Huber admits Audi does not have a target EV-only range the company is trying to hit for the EPA sticker. In Europe, the model is rated as having a 50-kilometer (31-mile) EV range. Whatever number it will bear in the States will likely be low in the real world when the car is used in city driving, because the energy recovery system is extremely effective. What's more important, Huber said, is finding the balance. "We're struggling right now and are trying to find the right balance. EV miles brings your mpg down and if you want to have a high mpg, your EV miles go down. So, there's a mix and we're trying to find the right balance to get the customer excited about the car and not scare them away when they see the Monroney label. That is what we're currently trying to figure out, to make the car US accepted." Getting this right is so important that the US availability date is dependent on some of these changes, Huber said.

Another likely change concerns what the four powertrain modes will be called. Currently, they are: EV, Hybrid Auto, Hybrid Hold and Hybrid Charge. EV mode is self explanatory. The car will only use battery power, up to a speed of 81 mph (the car has a top speed of 130 miles per hour in hybrid mode). Hybrid Auto will just let the car take over, trying to give you the most efficient experience possible. Hybrid Hold keeps the battery level wherever is was when you pushed the button and Hybrid Charge mode will actively pump electrons into the battery pack from the gasoline engine. This is not a quick process (our unofficial tests showed that it took about an hour, but that figures to change based on any number of conditions) and is actually not recommended for most drivers. Huber couldn't say what percentage of the car's overall efficiency is lost when it charges the pack from the gas engine – something is really only useful when there are congestion charge areas – since how inefficient it is depends on variables like the speed you're driving and if you're going up or down a hill. "It's so complex, there is no real number to it," he said. Even so, there is no question that charging via the engine is an efficiency loss, and Huber said, "In regular driving, I wouldn't use it." In other words, most drivers should just keep this EV aspect hidden.


The A3 Sportback E-Tron is, after years and years of thinking about how the first E-Tron should work, Audi's attempt to have every cake. Huber put it bluntly: "It's a regular car, and I think that's what people are waiting for. I think they would love to have a very efficient, nice looking and versatile vehicle. Every feature that they know from their previous car, they would expect in a new technology car. That's also why maybe it took us a little longer to make the package that good that you don't sacrifice." With an overall range of almost 600 miles, no one can claim range anxiety, yet it does offer reasonable EV performance in normal driving.

We will see how American drivers respond when the A3 Sportback E-Tron comes to our shores some time next summer or fall, likely following the US introduction of the A3 Sportback TDI next summer.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/07/15/2...-e-tron-video/

mmarshall

What the author says here is true, but regenerative braking itself is nothing new. In the American market, it goes back to the days of the earliest hybrids........the original 2000 Honda insight and Toyota Prius. That's why many hybrid alloy-wheels don't have large holes/slots in them to allow efficient air-cooling of the brake rotors. The brakes themselves don't need as much cooling, because they usually don't work very hard. And the smaller holes lessen air-resistance and improve the aero-G coefficient slightly. For some reason, though, the E-Ton's wheels seem to be not much different from those of some regular A3s.

(This, BTW, is why the feel/response of a typical hybrid brake-pedal is usually much more sensitive than conventional brakes, and why it takes some getting used to)

RXSF

want to see a comparison review between this, the i3 and the B class Electric

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Would be an interesting shoot-out. My money says the A3 would handle best