The Audi R8 E-Tron captivated the audience at the recently-concluded LA Auto Show and according to Audi, the car is scheduled to make itself known to a far bigger audience around 2012.
The folks from Ingolstadt have confirmed that the electric supercar will, in fact, head to production with a target release date of 2012. A total of 1,000 made-to-order units will be made of the E-Tron and in the event that all 1,000 units don’t sell, then the production for the electric supercar will stop.
When it made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show – and making its US debut in LA a week ago – the E-Tron concept generated a ton of attention for its sleek and futuristic look and its engine capabilities. Sporting four individual electric motors on each wheel, the E-Tron can generate as much as 313hp, a maximum torque of 4,500Nm, and a 0-60mph time of 4.8 seconds with a top speed coming in at around 124mph. Likewise, a full battery charge of the E-Tron is expected to last for about 150 miles.
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While the car itself has become some sort of a public fixation, Audi is cautiously optimistic about the future of the car, hence the decision to limit its run to 1,000 units. According to Achim Badstubner, Audi’s head of exterior design, “Electric cars are usually city cars, but this is difficult because batteries are so expensive, limiting their competitiveness."
While we understand their guarded stance on the prospect of the car, we still fully expect the E-Tron electric supercar to generate a ton of interest that is unless they price the car obscenely high, but according to Autocar, it should be right around the ballpark, albeit a little higher, of the R8.