CARS
WORDS NAT BARNE S The Audi e-tron GT ushers a new era for sports cars with a green conscience
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here’s a revolution under way. An electric revolution. Not so long ago, the idea of a sports car would have been a big V8-engined, twodoor muscle car that was loud and proud. The kind of thing that made half of the population drool with envy and the other half roll their eyes in utter bemusement. Now though, the rules have changed. And that fact is underlined by this, the new Audi e-tron GT. A four-door saloon that’s not just the most powerful road car that the German firm has ever produced but is also fully electric with zero emissions. Yep, you read that right. Drop-dead gorgeous looks, scorching performance (more on that later) and very clean. In fact, this is just the start for Audi. Some 30 electrified models are promised for showrooms by 2025 and 20 of those will be purely electric. The Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback SUVs are both due in 2022 with an A6 e-tron arriving in 2023 with a 435-mile range. Make no mistake, Audi is going full-on for plug-in power with this e-tron GT as its flagship. If some of the e-tron GT’s dimensions and overall shape look familiar, then you’re not mistaken. Underneath the skin, the Audi e-tron GT is essentially the same car as the Porsche Taycan, but we think Audi’s offering is every bit as good to look at, if not better.
SEPTEMBER 2021
