Sports car racer Markus Winkelhock has the honour of being the fastest electric car driver around Germany’s famed Nurburgring circuit – 8:09.099 minutes in an Audi R8 e-tron.
That’s hugely impressive when you consider the current combustion engine record for the 20.8kms mountain circuit is held by a 515kW V8 Gumpert Apollo Sport at 7:11.57 minutes.
Audi says the R8 e-tron driven by Winkelhock mirrors the production version due on-sale by the end of the year. Both the electric motors deliver 280kW/820Nm, zero to 100km/h takes just 4.6-seconds and the top speed is 250km/h.
And the R8 e-tron has a range between re-charged for its 49KWh lithium-ion battery of 215kms. Of course this is helped by the electric R8’s low weight of 1780kgs – a by-product of extensive carbon fibre and aluminium components.
Underlining its expertise with hybrid vehicles, last month Audi triumphed at the Le Mans 24-hour race in the R18 e-tron Quattro.
