5 Possible Reasons Why Audi is Getting Rid of the R8 E-Tron
Check out the possible reasons why Audi is pulling the plug on the E-Tron.
1. Price
The Audi R8 E-Tron was set to hit the market with a hefty price tag of 1.1 million dollars. The extremely high price could be a solid reason why Audi pulled the plug on their E-tron. Just to put this more in perspective, for $1.1 million you can purchase two Rolls Royce Phantoms and a Mercedes S-Class.
2. Battery Technology
Audi might have dropped the ball with their expectations for the E-Tron's battery. They designed a car that can go from 0-60 MPH in four seconds, which is complementary of the 375 horsepower engine. However, they realized that today's Lithium Ion battery technology isn't advanced enough to go for 130 miles with this kind of power; the battery simply won't offer enough energy density.
3. Competiton
There is always competition in the automotive industry; however, Audi's competition for the R8 E-Tron was great and available at a much lower price. The two most popular competitors for the E-Tron are the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive and the Tesla. Both of these vehicles have been receiving nothing short of the best feedback, while being offered at a quarter of the price or less.
4. Structure
Audi didn't restructure the E-Tron's body from scratch. Instead, they used an existing body. However, the problem is they expected an extreme amount of power while using the least amount of energy possible, so restructuring and building a structure from scratch was extremely necessary to achieve their goals, as they needed to build a much lighter body.
5. Production
Unfortunately, we don't know people's experiences with their E-Trons; however, we do know that only 100 vehicles were produced. There is a reason why Audi only produced 100 E-Trons, and if they had received the feedback they had hoped for, there would be much more than 100 manufactured and on the streets.
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