2011 Audi A1 E-Tron Testing Begins

Audi has started a very ambitious project with the all-electric E-Tron version of the new A1 city car.

When this car is ready to hit the market, it’ll be capable of 102PS, top speed 81mph, equivalent ‘fuel economy’ using range extender 148.7mpg, equating to 45g/km CO₂ output.

These are almost unbelievable figures but Audi is quite confident they can reach them pretty soon. They are disembarking 20 examples of the A1 E-Tron into the city of Munich as part of an exciting pilot project undertaken by Audi AG in partnership with E.ON, the Munich municipal utility company Stadtwerke München (SWM) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

All 20 examples of the innovative battery-powered ‘Mega City vehicle’ (MCV) will be operational by mid-2011 as participants in the “eflott” project, which forms part of the “Model Region Electromobility Munich” initiative sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Transport. ‘Fuelled’ by 200 newly installed charging stations, they will enable experts to address a number of issues, from the data transfer between the driver, vehicle and electric filling station to the power grid and the use of smartphones as the central interface for the driver.