After some teasing, Audi has finally taken the wraps off their latest concept vehicle. Called the PB18 e-tron, it should come as little surprise that this very stunningly futuristic machine is fully electric. The unveil occurred at the Laguna Seca speedway not far from the ongoing Monterey Car Week in Northern California.
There’s also no shortage of electric ‘e-tron’ concept vehicles from the Ingolstadt automaker, with each new prototype having some kind of electrified component to its drivetrain. However, this one is solely focused on performance instead of any kind of tree-hugging.
While some have pegged this as a glimpse into Audi’s interpretation of the next-generation R8, the sleek design is one that doesn’t follow the traditional rules of a wedge-shaped supercar. Instead, what we have here is an odd but very interesting amalgamation of a shooting brake hatch and high speed two door GT. Honestly, if slap some bright paint on there and tell us it’s a Lamborghini concept, not many will even raise an eyebrow.
To emphasise this driver focus, the PB18 e-tron features a unique centred seating arrangement similar to what McLaren had done with F1 in the 1990s and will again repeat with an upcoming mid-engine luxury high speed tourer. Though here, with Audi, they’ve seemed to have gone a step further by making the driver’s seat movable - presumably via electric motors - from side to side, allowing to take ‘centre-seat’ mode for a punt around your local track before reverting to RHD mode for the journey back to fetch your significant other.
Despite it’s shape and electric powertrain resulting in a surprisingly generous amount of interior space and boot, the PB18 is engineered to be a potent machine to drive at length too, hence the name taking inspiration from the Audi R18 race car.
Presumably, the car will share much with the platform of the upcoming Audi e-tron SUV, the company’s first fully-electric production vehicle. That’s no knock against either, as the ground-hugging ride height only enhances the already low centre of gravity of these kinds of EVs and their floor-mounted batteries.
As of now, the car is not accompanied by proven performance claims or tangible digits to associate with its power, torque, acceleration, or top speed. However, judging its huge 22-inch wheels and 19-inch carbon ceramic brakes, Audi’s designers intended this to have some serious performance when envisioning it.
To that end, the PB18 e-tron, should it edge close to production reality, should boast 3 electric motors that combine to produce a total system output of 500kW under normal conditions, mainly propelled by the 450kW pair responsible for the rear wheels while the front axle receives a sole 150kW motor. However, the tri-motor combination is able to deliver up to 570kW of power in brief burst periods.
On a full charge, and while in a suitably conservative driving mode, the is said to be capable of running for 500km on a full charge, requiring just 15 minutes to replenish its reserves from flat should it be hooked up to one of Audi’s 800-volt high-speed chargers.
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