Sunday, 1 March 2015

Audi Prologue Avant Concept

Cleantechnica.com: Those who like their vehicles to be electric, and their cars to be shaped like “wagons,” take note — the recently unveiled Audi Prologue Avant Concept may be exactly what you’re looking for.

In addition to the notable “looks” of the concept, there’s a fair amount of power — in particular, a 455 horsepower plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) drivetrain and 553 lb-ft of torque, coming via a 3.0 liter TDI coupled to a 100 kW electric motor.



The new concept PHEV was recently unveiled in anticipation of the upcoming 85th International Geneva Motor Show — which is set to take place at the Geneva Palexpo convention center in Geneva, Switzerland, March 5-15, 2015.

Gas2 provides more:

That’s enough grunt to haul the family sailboat clear across the continent, and in style. While not as much oomph as the original Audi Prologue Coupe Concept, which offered 677 horsepower and 701 lb-ft of torque, it’ll still get you from Point A to Point B in a hurry.

But there’s more to the Prologue Avant than raw brute force, as a 33-mile all-electric driving range means quick trips to town won’t require a single sip of fuel. A 5.1 second 0 to 62 MPH ensures you’ll never want for power merging onto the highway, and even though specific fuel economy isn’t mentioned, you can assume it will be something exceptionally frugal.



It should also be noted of course that this quite a stylish vehicle — as demonstrated in these promo images. The detachable OLED tablets in particular — quite fancy. Not as “interesting” looking as the recent Rinspeed Budii concept, but still attention grabbing.

According to Audi, most of the technologies used in the concept are “near production-ready,” but it’s not clear exactly what that means. The company has been dithering a bit when it comes to bringing EVs and PHEVs to the market. Perhaps that’s set to change now?



Image Credit: Audi