Why did Audi cancel its R8 electric sports coupe?
Audi has pulled the plug on its R8 e-tron, an all-electric version of the R8 luxury coupe. The decision may have set the German automaker up to dive deeper into popular electric vehicle markets.
The idea of an all-electric Audi supercar first emerged as early as 2009. It鈥檚 been in and out of development ever since. When research and development chief Ulrich Hackenberg brought it back for its most recent incarnation, the vehicle became a variant of the second-generation R8. But the car was never mass-marketed, , Audi told Car and Driver. The price has also been a drawback, with the cars coming in at .听
The rise of Tesla has proven that buyers can have environmentally-conscious luxury cars that are not only fast and fun, but also increasingly affordable. For Audi, abandoning its project is likely a recognition that technology has progressed, reducing the appeal of the R8 e-tron. In other words, it鈥檚 time to try something new.
鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 have appeared as a really compelling or competitive combination of price and performance or capabilities鈥� by the time it hit the market, Karl Brauer, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, tells 海角大神 in a phone interview. 鈥淭he world has changed鈥oo rapidly for that car to make sense any more.鈥�
The price of electric vehicles has been dropping rapidly over the past few years, at the same time as range has increased. Tesla has been at the forefront of this revolution.听
The Tesla Roadster, when it debuted in 2008, , with a range of 244 miles. That cost dropped to $57,000 for the Model S, which boasted a 50-mile range increase. The 2017 Tesla Model 3 has a $35,000 price tag, making it cost-competitive with the BMW 3 series and Audi A3, which have conventional internal combustion engines.
Mr. Brauer says the success of Tesla has been 鈥渁n obvious wake-up call to automakers鈥� that there is a market for electric vehicles. Other manufacturers have been quick to improve their offerings: The 2017 Chevy Bolt has a , at a cost as low as $30,000 after tax credits.听
For Audi and other Germany automakers, their electric cars came 鈥渁 little too early鈥� for the technology, Brauer explains. And seven years on, the R8 e-tron looks 鈥渨ay overpriced and somewhat obsolete,鈥� given its high cost and low range. But all is not lost. In fact, abandoning this design may pave the way for the company to produce electric vehicles with mass appeal in the future.
鈥淭hey learned a lot. If they鈥檙e smart, they鈥檒l take the lessons and move forward,鈥� Brauer says, calling it 鈥渁 good R&D project for them.鈥�
As he points out, Audi is already working on a , which caters to the increasingly broad SUV market.
Staying current is important in a climate where electric cars are increasingly popular. A 2012 Deloitte survey found that . And the International Energy Agency reported that there were at the end of 2015. Global emissions targets could push that number substantially higher over the next five years.听
Advances in technology are helping the German manufacturers. Their preference, in building electric cars, has historically been to take existing models and replace the engines with batteries. That used to be a disadvantage, given the bulkiness of the batteries, and gave Tesla 鈥� which designed its chassis and batteries for electric vehicles 鈥� a leg up. New, flexible batteries mean that鈥檚 less of a hurdle with today鈥檚 models.
As such, while Porsche may be building its electric vehicle offering from the ground up, other car makers, such as BMW, are opting to fit already-popular cars with batteries. Overall, 鈥渂attery costs have been cut by a factor [of] four since 2008鈥nd are set to decrease further, the IEA said in its Global EV Outlook for 2016.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an EV world and Europeans, and the luxury car makers in particular, have decided to embrace it,鈥� Brauer concludes.
