Welcome to the future. Audi’s entry into the hybrid electric car world, the 2016 A3 Sportback e-tron, truly represents the future of personal automotive transporation.

On one hand, it’s packed with the latest hybrid and electric vehicle technology, allowing you to approach 90 MPGe using the hybrid system. On the other hand, it’s a beautifully designed, well-built Audi that with 204 HP (using both the gasoline and electric motors) and Audi’s race-proven driving dynamics, creates a fun performance driving experience true to the Audi brand.

This PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) comes with both an electric and gasoline engine which can be used in tandem or individually. The system has four settings adapting to a range of driving conditions. EV Mode operates the car in an electric-only mode with the high-voltage battery system providing about 16 miles of range. In Hybrid Mode, the car automatically selects which engine should be used based on the driving conditions. The Hold Battery Mode operates the car in hybrid mode, but preserves the charge of the battery for later use. Charge Battery Mode uses just the gasoline engine to power the car and to charge the battery while driving. The settings are controlled by a switch and are switchable when the car is driving or parked.

The tech

Like all Audi models, the A3 e-tron is available with a wonderful suite of infotainment options, all controlled by the easy-to-use MMI touch system. Audi connect is a subscription-based service that features Google Earth, Google Voice Search, a proprietary traffic guidance system along with fuel prices, parking info, music streaming and internet radio. Other tech goodies include the use of Google Earth and 3D satellite technology. The car is a moving Wi-fi hotspot, offering full 4G LTE (powered by AT&T) for up to eight devices.

The A3 Sportback e-tron offers the full suite of Audi safety features like multiple airbags, along with some electronic collision countermeasures. There’s a wide-sweeping side assist system that detects and alerts the driver to other traffic next to them, as well as an optional active lane assist system. This reads the lines in the road and gently nudges the steering wheel when it senses the car is drifting over the lines on either side.

Read more: Examiner

THE 2014 World Car of the Year is adding zero emissions motoring to its repertoire with the arrival of the new A3 Sportback e-tron, the first plug-in hybrid to join the Audi range.

Priced from £29,950 (including government grant incentive), the spacious five-door compact hatchback combines a conventional 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver impressive performance, exceptional efficiency and, equally crucially, complete freedom from range limitation. The first e-trons will arrive with customers early this year.

At a glance, nothing about the A3 e-tron is new at all. But delve beneath that ubiquitous surface and you will find a very clever petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain that combines the cheap energy of plug-in tech and the ability to recharge on the move. The modified 1.4-litre TFSI unit, in this application featuring a peak power output of 150PS, is linked by a clutch to a 75kw electric motor, which is integrated into a specially developed six-speed S tronic transmission sending power to the front wheels. Combined, the two power units generate 204PS of system power, good for a 0-62mph sprint of 7.6 seconds and a top speed of 137mph. So, it’s no slouch.

Equally importantly, according to the ECE standard for plug-in hybrid cars, the A3 Sportback-based e-tron is capable of covering up to 176.6mpg with CO2 emissions of only 37g/km. With the combination of electric motor and combustion engine, an overall operating range of up to 584 miles is possible.

The Audi A3 e-tron can run exclusively on electric power for up to 31 miles at speeds of up to 81mph, or can be powered by petrol alone. Alternatively, the hybrid mode brings both units into play, and the driver can choose to run these simultaneously – a function known as ‘boosting’ – by initiating kickdown by the S tronic transmission. In this mode the full 350Nm torque output is deployed for the strongest possible acceleration, but when the driver stops accelerating both motors temporarily deactivate, eliminating motor braking torque and allowing the car to glide to conserve fuel and recuperate energy.

Up to medium loads the motor can also function as an alternator, making a significant contribution to retardation and recovering energy which is fed into the traction battery. In this mode the wheel brakes only become active if the driver applies moderate force to the pedal.

The driver has several ways of actively managing the vehicle’s response. Four key settings are available – the EV mode gives priority to electric drive, the hybrid auto mode is useful for long journeys as it engages the electric motor wherever possible, the hybrid hold mode preserves the electrical energy stored in the battery for later use and the hybrid charge mode uses the combustion engine as a generator to charge the battery.

Inside the four passenger doors interior space is good for five, and luggage capacity is the same as a Quattro four-wheel driven A3, which is to say 100 litres down on the basic A3 Sportback and technically only 29 litres more than a Volkswagen Up. It’s broad rather than deep, though, and turns out to be plenty practical enough.

Standard trimmings include LED headlights and daytime running lights, special ‘turbine design’ 17-inch alloy wheels, rear parking sensors, light and rain sensors, MMI navigation plus with hard drive-based mapping and Audi connect online services bringing in-car internet access.

The A3 Sportback e-tron is supplied with two charging leads as standard. One is specifically designed for use at public charging points and the other for domestic use.

The charging lead supplies the car with alternating current from the grid via the charging connection, which is located in the single frame grille behind the fold-out four rings. As well as a status LED, the unit includes two pushbuttons allowing the user to choose between timer-controlled charging and immediate charging.

Using a domestic socket it takes four hours to fully charge the battery. When a wallbox is connected or a public charge point is used this reduces to two hours and fifteen minutes.

The e-tron excels in electric-only mode in city environments, where its is quiet and smooth, but loses something of the dynamics of the regular A3 because of the battery weight beneath the floor. Crucially, the standard everyday hybrid mode does brilliantly well at using the electric motor as much as possible, saving the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol back-up for more pressing needs and topping up battery charge.

Source: The Northern Echo

You wouldn’t know it was an EV … except it might use NO petrol

Vulture at the Wheel It would have been difficult for Audi to launch an electric car differentiated more from BMW’s. Whilst the BMW i3 has been styled and engineered to look and perform like something from another planet, the new A3 e-tron most definitely has not.

This is Audi’s first production ‘leccy car since it announced it would not be mass producing the all-electric concept e-tron coupe or the design-study Wankel rotary-engined A1 e-tron range extender.

What we have here is something that – if you removed the e-tron badges, taped over the interior decals and didn’t rummage around too deeply in the display menus – you could get in and drive from John O’Groats and Land’s End and not notice it was an EV at all.

Of course, this is entirely deliberate. Audi thinks the path to electric motoring is not to scare the horses but still to bundle some cutting edge drivetrain technology under the bonnet. That’s why the A3 e-tron looks just like any other A3, right down to hiding the charge socket under the four-circles badge at the front – a place you’d never notice it unless you were looking for it and had been told its whereabouts to begin with.

The only clue to what’s in play here is under the bonnet. Pop the hood, as the Americans say, and you’ll see the high power electric cabling and associated 75kW electric motor which is coupled to a slightly modified 150ps 4-cylinder 1.4L turbocharged TFSI petrol engine.

The electric motor draws its power from a 96-cell 8.8kWh Li-Ion battery pack that’s buried beneath the rear seats. The 12V battery and its associated electrics, evicted from under the bonnet by the electric drive motor, now snuggle up alongside the fuel tank at the back. This means the new drive train set-up doesn’t have any noticeable impact on the A3’s front-to-back weight distribution

Read More: The Register