Audi R8 e-tron Sets Electric Speed Record on German Track, Comparable To Top Gas Speeds
August 31, 2012 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis The R8 e-tron has set a world record for a production car with an electric drive system on the Nürburgring Nordschlefe, which is one of the toughest, if not the toughest test tracks in the world.
Race driver Markus Winkelhock test drove the high-performance, all-electric-drive sports car around the 20.8 kilometers track in 8:09.099 minutes.
Winkelhock made a statement evaluating the car’s performance saying, “Of course, the R8 e-tron is a production car, not a race car with the assistance of aerodynamics. But with its low center of gravity and rear biased weight distribution, it brings with it a lot of sporty qualities.”
“The torque with which the electric motors propel the car uphill beats everything that I know – even if they hardly make any noise in the process, which at the start was really a completely new experience for me. In places where I really need traction, the torque vectoring – the displacement of the torque between the power wheels – really helps me,” continued Winkelhock.
The R8 e-tron reached speeds on the Nürburgring test close to the top speeds of gas-powered cars. To get an idea, the Gumpert Apollo Sport – powered by a 515 kW (700 hp) Audi V8 gasoline engine – has a record time of 7:11.57, about a minute faster than the R8’s 8:09.099.
The drive system of the R8 that Winkelhock drove will correspond “in every detail” with the production model that will come out on the market at the end of this year, said Audi.