Audi A3 e-Tron Hybrid revealed at Shanghai

Audi A3 e-Tron Hybrid Shanghai - yet another e-Tron Concept

Where would we be at a major motor show without Audi and an e-Tron concept?

So far we’ve had an Audi e-tron trundled out in everything from a super mini to a super car, and with a range of powertrains from a very sensible range-extender in the Audi A1 e-Tron to the frankly ludicrous claims of the first R8 e-Tron delivering 3,319lbs/ft of torque.

What we get for Shanghai is the Audi A3 e-Tron. Not the Audi A3 e-Tron hatch we reported a week or so ago, but an e-Tron version of the Audi A3 Concept we saw at Geneva in March. The same A3 Concept that firmly points to the next generation A3.

This A3 e-Tron gets a 211bhp 1.4-litre turbo TFSI lump and a 27bhp electric motor. The motor is powered by a 12 kWh bank of lithium-ion batteries located behind the rear seats (which we guess will make the boot a chunk smaller – just like the Auris Hybrid).

Audi say that when the ICE and the electric motor are used together – with all 238bhp going through the seven-speed S tronic ‘box – the A3 e-Tron can manage 0-60mph in 6.8 seconds and 144mph.

Not only that, but it can do up to 34 miles just on the electric motor. How fast it can do that 34 miles, with only 27bhp to play with, Audi doesn’t tell us.

Whether the Audi A3 e_tron in this guise, or in the hatch guise last week which was a pure EV with 100kW electric motor delivering 134bhp, will ever make production is anyone’s guess. So far Audi has done nothing more than churn out endless theoretical concepts covering the whole spectrum of alternative powertrains (except fuel cell – give ‘em time).

But at least this A3 e-Tron Hybrid, along with the A1 e-Tron range extender, make sense as viable alternatives to a regular ICE car.

By Cars UK