No mirrors will take some getting used to.
Audi’s answer to the Tesla Model X and the Jaguar I-Pace is nearly upon us. Dubbed the e-tron, the sharp, electrically-powered SUV was supposed to have had its day rather soon actually, but its introduction has been delayed owing to the arrest of their CEO in connection to the (still) ongoing Dieselgate scandal. And to ensure that we don’t harp on about that for too long, they’ve swung their hype machines into overdrive, and have dropped some details on the e-tron ahead of its (new) launch date in August.
With some 2928mm between the wheels, the e-tron is definitely not a small car. With the packaging benefits that electric propulsion can provide, the e-tron is expected to offer generous amounts of space for its 5-occupants, as well as the luggage that might go with it. In fact, Audi claims that the e-tron provides best-in-class cabin length, headroom (in both rows) and rear kneeroom.
They also claim that the e-tron is unbelievably quiet. This is a big point when it comes to electric cars: Without the constant hum of an engine, road & wind noise becomes extra annoying than they normally would. To that end the e-tron offers specially-designed soundproofing and dealings in all areas where sound might leak Ito the cabin. As a result, wind-noise at speeds of around 85km/h are almost imperceptible to occupants.
As is now the norm with Audis, there are screens all over the dash. There’s the 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit ahead of the driver, taking place of conventional dials, while the central stack plays host to two more touchscreens. The top handles your usual infotainment, navigation displays and the like, while the lower screen takes care of the climate controls and other smaller settings, and also acts as an input pad for handwriting gestures and inputs.
So far, so Audi. However, a closer look reveals some rather… unique things, in the e-tron. For starters, you won’t find a gear lever here, or buttons or a knob or anything you’d expect. Instead, there’s sort of a hand-rest type affair that seems to float above the centre console. That thing, is the gear lever. Odd as it might be, it actually serves a practical purpose: Place your wrist there and your hand is perfectly placed to fiddle with the climate controls. Smart.
Notice anything else missing? Ah yes, the side mirrors. Being 2018, it would be far too pedestrian to simply offer pieces of reflective glass to show you what’s behind you. In order to make the car as aerodynamic as possible, Audi’s binned the conventional side mirrors and instead, have two 7.0-inch OLED screens built into the doors ahead of the door handles, displaying a live feed from two cameras mounted where the mirrors normally would be.
Perhaps the only benefit of this system is that while mirrors tend to be fixed in place, the feeds in those screens change between Highway, Turning, and Parking modes, which should ease manoeuvrability and improve spatial awareness.
Audi, being Audi, haven’t thrown in those flash cameras as standard though: They’re part of a pricey list of options, as expected. Along with the cameras, there are other things on that list that could take your fancy, like flash ambient lighting, a 16-speaker 705W Bang & Olufsen sound system, as well as a selection of illuminated ‘e-tron’ badges.
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