The four-wheeled wonder comes with large detached (read: pimped out looking) wheels with 1920’s Ford-style fenders and the signature Audi grille complete with the four rings. This compact two-seat pod car is the being called something of a preview of the company’s E-Tron series of electrified vehicles. This new eco-focused concept called Audi E1 E-Tron will be formally introduced at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show although it was spotted doing an impromptu round of the streets of Berlin, Germany.
With yet another financial crisis looming large over the world, it makes a lot of sense that big brand names ditch their larger fuel-guzzlers for petite urban rides like this. To be presented at the Internationale Automobil Ausstellung in Frankfurt as a four-wheeled scooter study, the Bubble Car is the Audi designers’ vision of sustainable urban mobility in the future.
With a silent drive train, the electric drive possibly features two electric motors that propel the rear axle with a lithium-ion battery pumping the juice in from a discreet location under the floor. The two-seater tandem-style arrangement sees the passenger sitting behind the driver instead of riding shotgun. The plug-in hybrid model features a two-cylinder 0.8 L turbo diesel engine that is supplemented with a 20 kW electric motor pushing a city-safe 48 hp.
The vehicle is being seen as the production-version successor of the Volkswagen 1 L concept car that was debuted way back in 2002. Although details on the performance and engine specs for the E1 will probably not surface until the auto show opens on September 13 later this year, we can safely assume that the model would be the starter variant in Audi’s E lineup which would go right up to an E8 electric supercar.-automotto.com
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