Further development to electric model
Audi is planning a successor to the successful R8 car: an electric super sports car based on a new concept
The Audi R8 V10 Plus
© empics | Jonathan Fleetwood / Picture Alliance
The Audi R8 is a successful model from the German car manufacturer. It stands for extreme performance – and yet the super sports car is looking forward to the end of production. However, Audi plans to redevelop the R8 and launch it on the market with an electric motor.
The R8 is Audi’s flagship car. No other vehicle from the German car manufacturer is as powerful. The super sports car is scheduled to be phased out at the end of 2023, but will appear as an electric model under a new concept in the future, as reported by the British magazine “Autocar” with reference to Audi insiders. The project has not yet been finally decided, but the car is already in the works.
Accordingly, the new R8 should also get a new name. What remains the same as the current R8 is its characteristic of a super sports car, which has more power than any other vehicle in the Audi product range. Audi Sport boss Sebastian Grams told “Autocar”: “We try to get as close as possible to the ultimate racing feeling.” 60 percent of the components should resemble the GT3 car.
The Audi R8 is currently still being produced – together with the Audi e-tron GT and the RS e-tron GT at the “Böllinger Höfe” plant in Heilbronn. The R8 has been manufactured here since 2014, so you are well prepared for the development of high-end electric models.
The new Audi R8 will continue to be made primarily by hand
The R8 is scheduled to appear as a GT version with all-wheel drive later this year, before production is scheduled to end after a total of around 17 years. In a few years, the production of the R8 successor with handcrafted elements – as usual – will start.
Grams explains: “Definitely we will keep the craftsmanship as it makes the car unique compared to the rest of the portfolio. If we launch an R8 successor we will try to continue to do so. That is important for the customer. There is a lot of love in an R8.”
Several platforms are available to Audi for the production of the new R8: On the one hand, the SSP Sport platform from Porsche is used for SUVs and sedans and serves as a replacement for the J1 platform used for the Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-tron GT models is used. An alternative is the sports car platform planned by Porsche for the announced electric Porsche 718 Boxster and the Cayman. The architecture of the platform is ultimately aimed at high-performance vehicle models.
It is not yet known which platform Audi will ultimately use for the R8 successor. However, Grams says: “We see every project as our own. Otherwise we wouldn’t be so successful.”
With the RS e-tron GT, Audi already has an electric sports car that achieves very high performance: the 637 hp engine accelerates the electric car from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds. In addition, its short charging time is impressive. A successor to the R8 will have to surpass these values in order to meet the requirements of the super sports car.
“We have to be innovative”
But how is that supposed to work? Because the all-electric sports cars already have strong acceleration. Grams: “We believe that we can do more on the technical side of e-vehicles. We also have to offer customers a digital experience around the RS models – how to customize the look and feel of the car. With that can we play.” One could also imagine special driving modes. “There are endless possibilities.”
However, the development of the new R8 should not be easy, as Grams points out: “We have to be brave, just like we were with the first generation of the R8. It was a brave decision to build this car. We have to be innovative and enter the world of electricity and digitization.”
The plans for a new Audi R8 are therefore already quite concrete. “I fight for [einen R8-Nachfolger] and the board of Audi too. We look at different concepts and the direction is electrified. If I get my wish, it will be an electric R8. And when you make a supercar, it’s a two-door concept,” said Grams.
A new Audi TT is another popular Audi Sport model being considered. According to Grams, the German carmaker is also working on this. However, he says: “He was an icon. But at the moment my focus is on an R8 successor.” If Audi actually puts the ideas for a new super sports car into practice, the car should come onto the market in time for the big switch to electromobility – in the middle of the current decade.
Sources: carAudi