39TORQUE TALKW
e allknowthatmagicisn’treal,but
magiciansexistnevertheless.And
certainly,somemagicwentinto
theAudie-tron.Audi’sall-electricvehicleisa
beautifulcartodrive.It’snotweird,it drives
thesameasa standardAudi,it’sjustelectric.
Andit’sflyingoffthetarmacshelves.It’s
certainlycreatinga sense of wonder, just as
magiciansdo.
Youcanprobablyrelatetomypredicament:
Saturdaymorning...kidssports,groceries
tobuy,pick-upsanddrop-offstonavigatein
betweentheflurryofsidelinesupportand
slicingoranges.So,withlimitedtimeavailable,
I wasfeelinga littlestresseduponarrivalat
ArchibaldsonSaturdaymiddaytotaketheAudi
e-tronfora testdrive.Momentarilymystress
levelswereheightenedfurtherwhenErictold
meit wasa left-handdrivevehicleI wouldbe
driving.AudiNZneededcarsontheground
forstafftrainingandcustomertest-outs and
Germanyalonehadtheanswer.
TheNewZealandmarketisalloverthisfive-
doorSUV,andwith 100 all-electricAudie-trons
securedforNewZealand, 80 havealreadybeen
snappedup.Thiscarsuitsourcountry’shydro-
generatedpowerusage.It satisfiesourdesire
tobesustainable,andit suitsourfeel-good
factorwhenwelearnthatthecarwasbuiltin
Audi’sfirstcarbon-neutralfactoryinBelgium.
SohowwouldI copewiththesteeringwheel
ontheotherside?Likea breeze.It’sremarkably
smooth,comfy,andtostatetheobvious:
quiet.Audihasworkedwithitsusualattention
todetailandimplementedplentyofnoise-
cancellingcomponents.Audiwasrenowned
foritsquietcarsyearsbeforeEVscameonthe
scene.AndI wasmesmerised.Mystressmelted
awaylikethosevanishingladiesinmagicstage
shows.It’sunderstatedyetcool,it’spowerful
yet environmentally friendly, it’s spacious yetself-contained.Forwantofa betteranalogyit’s
likedrivinga magiccarpet;not quite flying, but
sereneandnon-polluting.
Sittingbetweena Q5anda Q7size-wise,it’s
thefirstoffivemodelsofall-electricvehicle
thatAudiisreleasinginthenext 18 months.
Thefutureisverymuchelectric.Thinkbackto
1903 whencarssharedtheroadwithhorses
andcarts,andnowit isconventionally-fueled
carssharingtheroadwithelectricvehicles.
Within 10 yearsthehorseandcartsweregone,
andmaybewecouldsay the same fate awaits
thefossilfuelcars?
TheAudie-trondoesallthethingsanAudi
shoulddo,it justdoesn’thavea gearbox,butit’s
stillabletogoupmountainroadsandseaside
boulevardsquitehappily.Andofcourse,service
andrunningcostsarecomparatively lower than
combustionenginevehicles.
Therearemultiplechargingoptionsall
overthecountrywiththeChargeNetapp
showingall 139 NZchargingstations.Andthe
Audie-tronhasoneofthefastestre-charge
capabilitiesonthemarket,donchaknow.For
thosewithrangeanxiety,donotfret.The
Audie-tronhasa ‘real-worldtesting’rangeof
417kms.WhenI gotinmytest-drivevehicle,
theclocksaid229kmsof‘juice’remaining,but
suchisthejoyoftheAudie-tronit chargesas
youdriveandhencebythetimewe’ddriven
20kmsaroundthecitywehadincreasedthe
‘juice’tankto234kms.Theideaofme‘making’
energyisjustspellbinding.A tripdownto
Queenstownmightneedonestop-offtore-
charge,buthappily, time to grab a coffee and a
bitetoeat.
AvailabletocustomersofArchibaldsfrom
August.Pricesstartingfrom $150,000. Magic
doesn’t exist – Audis do.archibalds.co.nzEXCEPTIONAL ELECTRIC
WORDSKathy CattonPHOTOSKallum Harris