Partially Electrified

After my experience with the Tesla Model S, I was especially looking forward to a short test drive with the Audi A3 e-tron. Thank you once again to the fine folks at Audi Zentrum Landshut for this opportunity.

I started the drive with an almost fully charged battery, which meant an indicated range of 37km. Which is somewhat less impressive than the Tesla, but is offset by that 1.4l petrol engine, which leads to a combined range of up to 940km. 

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Fancy e-tron specific instrument cluster showing combined ranges

As my wife and I use a 1.4 petrol A3 already, I was mainly interested in the electric driving aspect of the e-tron.
Perfect for doing daily chores throughout the city, the “EV” mode of the car allows you to use only the battery while driving, unless you kick down or shift the gear lever in S-mode.
This is quite an experience, as you silently pull away from your parking position, wander through city streets barely making a sound, and almost drive over unwitting pedestrians crossing the streets because they never heard you coming. Okay, I guess people need to learn to expect silent electric cars in the future (or we add artificial noise to them, which kind of defeats one purpose of this technology).

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Fancy display shows silent mode in action

And it’s no slouch either - 330NM of electric torque are at your disposal from the get go, perfectly sufficient for city touring.

Add the fact that this is still an Audi A3, in every guise a pretty perfect compact car (now with a little less luggage space, because, battery), and you have quite the selling point. For quite a price, which you will only partially get back through saved fuel.

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Still an A3, still good looking, with subtle design cues for the e-tron

But…I drove the Tesla two days before that. 
Before the Tesla, I very much considered such a plugin hybrid for my next car, seeing it just as the Audi execs seem to do - a perfect intermediate technology before we all have batteries good for ranges of a 1000 miles and recharging in ten seconds or less.
Now though, I wonder if this isn’t a bit half-baked. And I notice things like the electric range not caring at all for your driving style, because why bother, you always have the petrol engine as well.
The Tesla offers you a realistic range based on your driving, and that’s what you need in an EV.

Nissan will probably offer a Leaf with 300 mile range and autonomous driving in 2018. When Audi will just start to offer the probably very nice, but also probably very expensive Q6.
I bet they will have nothing to offer in the compact car range that compares to the new Leaf.
And I think the emphasis on “intermediate technologies”, instead of going all-in, will be to blame for that. 
Because what the Tesla, and even the current Leaf, or the BMW i3 show - a petrol car turned hybrid, or even turned EV, will never be as good an EV as one built from the ground as such.
Will never have the upsides of EV construction (more luggage space, for example).
The A3 e-tron, with its little electric helper engine, therefore is more a sign of a carmaker not wanting to go all-in. Calm reassurance for all those hesitating that yes, it is okay to hesitate. But is it?

Upsides? Hybrid cars help finance the important research in future batteries, certainly a core technology for automakers. 
Also, the electric motor, as mentioned, is perfect for preserving the petrol engine while you go on these short drives during a shopping tour. Silent, too.
And you don’t have to do anything different from a normal car when going for a longer drive. Where you may even save some petrol. 

Most importantly, this is still an A3. Which is an extremely good car. Now with an interesting twist.

Electrified

The times, they are a changin’…

And how time flies. Spring 2012, Geneva Motor Show, is where I first saw a Tesla Model S. Not yet production ready, the attending staff warned everyone that this was not the quality to expect later on, quite apparent since some of the fancy door handles had failed.
“Nice idea, but…” I thought to myself and wandered over to have a look (and drool) at the new V8-engined Audi S7.

Fast forward to October 2013, and I had my first drive in the Model S, now fully equipped with working doors, and, in its P85+ guise, extremely impressive driving characteristics.
“Nice car, but…” - interior and exterior quality was still below a level I would want in a 100k+ car, the touchscreen was confusing at best, maybe even distracting (those smudges!), and Tesla had cheerfully glossed over any kind of driving assistance besides an old-fashioned cruise control and parking (beep) sensors. Electric drive was nice, but I was not really electrified, and could happily drive home in the Diesel A7, confident I wasn’t missing anything.

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The P85+ two years ago. Still an exceptional exterior design.

Two years later, and now the Model S was starting to drive itself, handing its customers a beta software called “autopilot”. “Nice technology, but…” isn’t this just the same radar cruise control, active lane keeping and auto parking our now 2 and 2,5 year old Audis had already? 
Sure, lane change is nice, but, toy, beta, potentially unsafe, just see on Youtube.

Tesla, willing to remove the “but…” in everyone’s mind, had just happened to send an invitation to another test drive, this time hassle-free in my new home town of Landshut. And since I was still curious, I found myself on a Sunday evening at a nearby hotel, cheerfully (as always) welcomed by the attending Tesla representatives. 
And sure, we can try the autopilot, the car had been updated just a few days ago and has that new feature now. A phrase you would never hear on a current Audi, BMW or Mercedes.

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The test drive car pretty much looked like this. Image © Tesla Motors, because too dark for own photos

First impressions were impressive indeed. In just two years, Tesla’s interior had made a jump from “yes, it’s an American car” to something closing in on Audi (which is high praise).
I also had made a jump, from “I hate touchscreens in cars” to “guess I will have to live with touch screens in cars”. Therefore, the giant, “we don’t need no stinkin’ buttons” iPad contraption in the centre console was more fascinating than annoying this time around, though that may also have been a function of sunset already behind us and therefore, no smudges!

Also, my attention was instantly drawn to the updated virtual cockpit you can see in all its glory at the top of this post.
With the new software version, there is a clear focus on the autopilot features of the car, and here indeed it constantly shows you what’s going on. This is perfect.

All lane markings recognized, the cars position in that lane, any detected obstacles or traffic around you, and the car in front of you are clearly marked and up-to-date.
This makes you as the operator/driver very aware of what the Model S is “seeing”, and even thinking. And leads to the effect described by the accompanying Tesla rep as “You’re getting confident in the car very quickly!”
While we were cruising on the Autobahn. At 140km/h. Doing a lane change. “Look Ma, no hands!”.

(hands at all times near the steering wheel as instructed by the car itself when switching autopilot on. of course.)

To sum up, the “autopilot” may be beta, but only in ways Google Mail was beta for many years.
Which is to say, it works really well. Which is to say, I want this on my morning commute. Now. Please.

And the rest? Impressive as always. The Tesla Model S effortlessly speeds up, regeneratively slows down, corners in ways of much smaller and sportier cars, navigates you to where you want to go, plays some internet radio at the same time, and looks like a fashion model while doing so.

Things I didn’t like? The stereo starts making noises whenever I keep my phone near that “iPad”, something I have never seen on other cars. Tesla, please.

And, being used to very bright and very white shiny LED headlights, the Model S’ Xenons appeared rather dim and yellow. Not bad, but such a futuristic car deserves a bit more forward-looking (and energy saving) lighting technology. Of course, American regulators still live in the 70s, so hoping for an American carmaker to invest in things like Audi’s Matrix or Mercedes’ Multibeam LED is probably wishful thinking. Still, that would be icing on the high-tech cake.

But even with these minor annoyances, I am starting to ponder things now. Things like what kind of range I really need, and if a 20 minute supercharger stop every 400km or so isn’t actually a good thing forcing me to take that recommended break I forgo much too often?
The answer is more and more leaning towards “Great car, this could actually work”. And I am becoming more and more confident that my future may not hold a shiny V6, or even V8 (no hard feelings, Audi S7?), but an electric car with batteries.

And even if it won’t be a Tesla, because the people at Audi Landshut are so damn nice, and those four rings are just what I need, I will be very happy if there is a fully electric Q6 in time, and maybe even more battery-driven models. And I will know that this is thanks to Tesla, because seriously, after witnessing the Model S, you will agree that this is the well-deserved kick in the butt German auto makers need.

Many thanks go to Tesla Germany, and especially the fine folks at Tesla Munich, for the kind invitation to and arrangement of this test drive. If you are in Munich, spend some time to visit them, they really are a very friendly and enthusiastic bunch.