Audi to bring high-performance electric cars soon

In the conventional fuel dominated auto world, electric cars have never been the primary choice of buyers. Reasons being many- lack of reliability, expensive, limited driving range as-well-as unavailability of charging stations. But with the rising costs of conventional fuels, market analysts expects the battery-powered vehicles to witness a good growth in sales by end of this decade.

According to Frost & Sullivan, a business consultancy firm, electric car market is expected to grow very rapidly in next few year. Its sales are expected to grow to 2.7 million units globally by 2018, as many more models will be arriving in the market.

Now to cash-in this opportunity, German car maker Audi is planning to introduce a range of high-performance electric cars, to take on its German rivals and US manufacturer Tesla Motors. If report from Reuters is to be believed, then the first product of the line-up, purely battery-powered version of its supercar R8 will hit the European road by early next year. Named as R8 e-tron, the electric sportscar, its production will be strictly tailored to demand. Other than the R8 e-tron, the German firm is also working an electric saloon and Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). Audi's further plan of expansion will be supported by the steps underway to upgrade a design platfrom- 'MLBand.' This platform already underpins various high-end models of the Volkswagen group's models such as Audi A8 and Porsche Cayenne.

As of now, well known US carmaker Tesla has manged to stay ahead in this electric arena with its innovations and latest technology. Tesla introduced many technologies and innovations to cut the cost and increase safety and reliability. Its connectors and power management helps its cars to recharge more rapidly and efficiently as compared to those of rivals. Recently, Tesla agreed to share its patents with other car manufacturers, in hopes to speed up the development of battery-powered vehicles in the industry. Its top officials is in talks with the German player BMW, to discuss ways to promote electric cars and to build a common infrastructure and to share the cost of developing recharging stations.

"Germany's major carmakers all have their electric-car plans ready in the drawer," said Hanover-based NordLB analyst Frank Schwope. "They want to be prepared when demand accelerates," he said, adding this could take another 5-7 years.

Source : Reuters