AudiDetroitShowcarE-tron

Detroit 2010: Detroit show car Audi E-tron, Bluesport Goes Electric

Audi e-tron Detroit Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

Right now Audi is heavily pushing diesel as the answer to reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions but down the road we'll be seeing both hybrid and electric options from the German brand as well. Last fall at Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi debuted a battery powered supercar based on the R8 and dubbed E-tron. For this weeks Detroit Auto Show, the E-tron name is back as is the lithium ion battery pack.

This time around the sports car is significantly smaller and only features two electric motors driving the rear wheels instead of four like the last concept. The new concept is almost the same size as last year's Volkswagen Bluesport roadster concept and may be based on the same platform. The concept again demonstrates that a car doesn't have to be dull to be green. The new E-tron gets to 62 mph in just 5.9 seconds from a standing start and is claimed to be able to about 155 miles on a full charge of its battery. While Audi plans to build some production examples of the original R8 based E-tron in 2012, there has been no announcement about this smaller model.