New Audi A3 e-tron Plug-In Hybrid With 201 HP To Debut At Geneva Motor Show

February 27th, 2013 by Nicholas Brown

In the next two weeks, Audi is going to introduce its latest Audi A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) at the Geneva Motor Show, which is hosted annually in Geneva, Switzerland.

Audi A3 e-tron visualization.

The latest A3 e-tron propulsion system comprises a 1.4 litre TFSI turbocharged gasoline combustion engine that produces 148 HP, and an electric motor that provides an additional 101 HP.

It utilizes a newly designed e-S tronic six-speed transmission that turns the front wheels.

The electric motor and gas engine mentioned above provide the vehicle in total with 350 Newton-metres, or 258.1 ft-lbs of torque, and 201 HP.

These motors propel the vehicle from 0 to 62 MPH (100 km/h) in 7.6 seconds, and to a maximum velocity of 138 MPH (222 km/h). This is not bad for a plug-in hybrid, but it isn’t uncommon for hybrids to achieve this.

For example: the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid does it in 2.9 seconds, and can attain a top speed of 198 mph; the Lexus RS450h AWD hybrid SUV does it in 7.4 seconds; and the Lexus LS 600h L does it in 5.6 seconds.

According to the ECE standard for plug-in hybrid automobiles, the Audi A3 e-tron requires only 1.5 litres of fuel per 100 km traveled — this translated to 156.8 MPG (U.S. rating) or 188 MPG (UK rating).

Its CO2 emissions are 35 g/km when the electric motor is in constant use.

This PHEV has three driving modes:

Electric mode: In this mode, it relies only on electricity and can travel 31 miles (50 km) per charge. It can attain a top speed of 81 MPH (130 km/h) in this mode.
Hybrid mode: This involves the combined use of the electric motor and gasoline engine. The vehicle can attain a speed of 138 MPH in this mode.
Gasoline-only: This involves the use of the gasoline combustion engine alone.

Source: Gas 2.0

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Tags: audi, Audi hybrid, Audi PHEV, e-tron, plug-in hybrids

About the Author

Nicholas Brown writes on CleanTechnica, Gas2, Kleef&Co, and Green Building Elements. He has a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, and geography. His website is: Kompulsa.com.

Conrad Clement

e-tron spells “étron” in french and means a sausage of poop…
C-zéro (Citroën) sounds like “C’est zéro* and means: it’s nil, worthless…
i-miev, where “mièv” is the French root of “mièvre” means flimsy, and sounds like the German ” mief” (pronounced meef) meaning lousy…

Got the message? Or do you still believe that Audi, Citroën, or Mitsubishi are sincerely striving to sell their electric models?