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| Beauty vs Future |
The new Audi E-Tron is now on sale and getting the chance to
go for a ride in one out of the first ten in Belgium surely is a treat. This is not the
first but the second electric vehicle I've been in, number one being (drum roll
please): a bus in Germany. However, this proper, 4x4 electric SUV is a totally
different animal from said bus (duh!). The E-Tron comes with two electric
motors that push out 360 hp and 561 Nm in "Classic Mode". For optimum
performance, tap it into "Boost Mode" and the power jumps to 402 hp
and 664 Nm... from zero rpm. So, you accelerate, in a 2,5 ton vehicle, from 0
to 100 kph in 5,7 seconds and it feels much faster. The only noise you hear is
the whooooosh of the wind and the bzzzzzz of the tires. No drama until you look
down at the speedo and let your jaw drop. On the opposite side of the E-Tron,
though, is an automobile where its only common trait with it (without including
the basic similarities) is the E, the hyphen (-) and the T and not many people
know about it (cough): a Jaaaaag E-Type S1 roadster. Today, prepare yourself
for a tour around the future of Audi and proof that classic cars have a soul.
Don't believe me? We'll see about that by the end of this article.
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3.8 lt race bred six vs a box to store your charger
(and Vadim) |
My friend Vadim works as an Audi salesman. Being a car nut,
he noticed that nobody wanted to take the robot missile (a.k.a. E-Tron) for the
weekend. So, he did the right thing and borrowed it for a couple of days. A
wise choice because we ended up doing some cool activities on Sunday. The plan
was to have a photoshoot with the E-Type and E-Tron, with the weather being
very unpredictable. It could rain for three hours and then stop, with one
minute hail storms once in a while and bit of sunlight here and there. Anyways, I hopped in the robot missile and
off we went in silence. Already, the interior is a very pleasant place to be.
Audi have a reputation for top notch interiors and great fit and finish.
Leather seats with aluminium nobs and center console, suede door cards and one
camera on each front door. Wait what?! Oh yeah, this E-Tron is equipped with
all the goodies, one of them being laser gun-looking digital side mirrors. This could be one of the reasons that this car turned so many heads, especially with its eye-popping blue
paintjob and futuristic rims. The technology though, doesn’t stop there. The
center console has two, tablet like screens: one for the infotainment and one
for the climate controls. Also, the gauge cluster is all digital, with even
high resolution, Google navigation inside it. This E-Tron was seriously well
specced. Panoramic sunroof, Bang and Olufsen boomin’ sound system, 3D 360
degree view of the car for when you’re reversing, leather seats,
this ride has it all. For 110,000 Euros it better!
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| 1,500 Euros apiece for digital side mirrors |
Nevertheless, having the E-Tron next to the E-Type, I was
struggling to find similarities between them. The robot missile has more in
common with my phone than the Jaaaaag. They both have navigation, they both
need batteries to function and you can change their settings digitally. Whereas
the Jaaaaag is a machine dripping with emotion and character. It’s also way,
way noisier than the Audi. Everything is creaking and squeaking. The gearbox
makes a very loud whine and the engine sounds as if it’ll fall apart in slow
speeds. But when you open her up and let the race-bred six sing, every single
problem that you have in your head washes away. Even for short periods of time,
it’s absolute nirvana. It stimulates all of your senses, bar the taste buds.
Then, if it’s parked or you're left stranded on the side of the road (‘cause Jaaaaag), you have a rolling
piece of art to gawk at. Come to think of it, you could call the E-Type a sort
of MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) but for passionate rather than practical reasons.
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| "Grandpa, what is gasoline?" |
The E-Tron could’ve been an ideal car for “Back to the
Future 2”, showcasing plenty of advancements in technology in only one vehicle.
It is a cool, impressive SUV and I’m a sucker for the amount and level of gadgetry
that comes with it. Though, there were a few gadgets that didn’t seem to have a
logical use. For example, this E-Tron came with a kind of autonomous driving
mode. It can vary its speed, brake and even steer to some extent, by itself.
But it’s not even close to autonomous driving. You anyways have to pay
attention to the road and help out the system, so what’s the point? Make people
think that they can finally text and drive in a safe manner? Lay back and take
a quick nap before work while your car “drives” you around? It’s a recipe for disaster
for clueless people. Also, what will happen to these rides when they’ll be
10-20 years old, if they even make it that far? How can you reuse such an advanced
and complicated vehicle? If something electric breaks, your car can’t move ‘cause
its got the same power source as your PC. You can’t work on it and every,
single feature is a ticking time bomb. If you have the money for a classy, electric
SUV and you like it, buy the robot missile. It’s better value and quality than a Tesla. Though
I’d rather spend 110k on repurposing something with soul and, well, an engine…
like an E-Type drop-top. The Turbo Rocket’s advice on how to save the planet
101.
Many to my man Vadim for showing me around the E-Tron! Very happy to have experienced Audi's first, fully electric SUV, with all the goodies and for bringing out the E-Type to compare their status quo!
