Video test: Audi A3 e-tron

With a basic price of € 37.900, you can ask the question of meaning first. Does it make sense to offer another drive variant? In addition to the already extremely economical Audi A3 1.6 TDI ultra, do you also need a plug-in hybrid version?
I tested the Audi A3 e-tron for AUTOHUB. The video is now online. 

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AUDI A3 e-tron - the connector alternative

(Disclaimer: The following article is a bit older and was created at the premiere at that time. Details on the model driven in the video are possible!) Efficiency doesn't have to be expensive. Anyone who orders the A3 Sportback with a 1.6 liter diesel engine and dual clutch transmission will start saving after paying the basic price of € 29.500. Combined 3.9 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers and only 102 g / km CO² are the eco-indicators for the Spar A3. If you drive less, you get the A3 with 150 hp 1.4 TFSI engine, dual clutch transmission and cylinder deactivation included, even pay just under € 1.000 less - their € 28.700 and are happy about one NEDC value 4.7 liters on 100 kilometers. The diesel is always a little more efficient, the gasoline always a little cheaper to buy, which seem to be the basic laws of automotive.

Likewise a fundamental law: Saving more means more effort.
With the A3 e-tron, Audi presented the first plug-in hybrids in the group, even before VW Golf GTE. And long after other manufacturers their models already pushed into the dealers' showrooms. If you come later, you should at least be better. And with that, the first task of the A3 e-tron is clearly outlined. Being good is not enough. He has to be perfect.

As you are used to, it clicks, it snaps, it grabs the grace of processing about the inmates as soon as you get in the A3 has made wide. How many times will I have to write it? Probably as often as it is true. The thing with the processing, with the unconditional quality in the interior, that the Ingolstadt simply. Also in the Golf class. Also with their new technology carrier.

From the elaborate hybrid technology including 8.8 kWh battery and power plug you get not much with first. From the outside, the eco-make-up was discreetly launched. Chrome crossbars in the radiator grille, subtle chrome lines in the front bumper and an exhaust hiding. The rest works in the Ingolstadt-style taut, more technological than emotional. A sympathetic solution has been found for the charging plug of the A3. The four rings were plastically exposed and form a flap, which releases a charging socket behind it.
The 125 kilogram battery pack is loaded over the nose, but hides in front of the rear axle, deep and shallow in the underbody. If you would like to load the A3 e-tron at home as normal, Audi will supply you with a stylish wall mount for the series-supplied 230 Volt charging cable. The lithium-ion battery should be recharged at the normal home supply within 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Full battery, good mood
Up to 50 kilometers pure electric range promises Audi. And if you want to know, let the A3 e-tron within 4.9 seconds on Tempo 60 accelerate. Electric and accompanied only by a slight whirring. The developer's idea was to run the e-tron as much as possible electrically. So the A3 e-tron almost always starts in electric mode and only switches on the 5 liter turbo gasoline engine with kickdown, empty battery or an operating mode deliberately set by 1.4. The nice thing about it: The switch between the pure e-operation, a pure gasoline operation or the combination of both, made extremely smooth. The technical structure of the e-tron A3 includes a combination of dual-clutch transmission, the 34 kilogram-heavy electric motor integrated in the clutch bell and the well-known 1.4 liter TFSI engine. The e-motor is disconnected from the petrol engine by clutch, both run, both pass their power through the dual-clutch transmission. If only the e-motor is running, only it gives its power to the 6 gear DSG from. With this structure, Audi is a very clever solution to the question of maximum e-efficiency. The maximum 75 kW electric motor is most efficient at 2.200 revolutions - thanks to the possible gear ratios, powerful sprints and a maximum electrical top speed of 130 km / h can be achieved.

At a first exit around Vienna good 40 kilometers were possible with the A3 e-tron in purely electrical operation. He drives, as a car should drive with electric motor. He pulls neatly away from the traffic light, rolls almost silently through the stop-and-go traffic and demonstrates, due to the absence of engine tints, what an impressive level of driving qualities (sounds, vibrations, ect.) The A3 Sportback already achieves Has.

As a plug-in hybrid, the A3 e-tron has more to do than just silently cover the daily commuter route, it has to master the daily routine of a real multi-purpose mobile, just like its brothers with classic power sources.

You can play with the hybrid functions and buttons in the e-tron A3 Sportback, but you don't have to. If you get the Plugin-Hybrid A3 as a rental car, you will sit in the car, drive - be happy about the background noise - later notice that the e-tron can hum according to the old car style and wonder how magical the interaction of the Hybrid drive works with the unprepared driver. Of course, as a driver you can further optimize everyday life in the e-tron. Press the EV button and, as the ruler of the charging logic and driving profiles, gain the upper hand over the technology. The selected EV mode gives the electric drive the upper hand. Choosing “charge” is the top priority of the drive train to recover electrical energy. In “Hybrid hold” mode, the battery charge can be saved for later use (downtown). If the gear lever is left in driving mode D, the A3 Sportback e-tron starts “sailing” as soon as the driver takes his foot off the accelerator. If you push the shift lever into S mode, the e-tron recuperates. So you can let the play instinct run wild. And those who have lived it out will find additional displays in the on-board computer menu. And if you can no longer let your e-tron run, you can play with the right Audi e-tron connect app on your smartphone, check the charge status from your bed, and use the app to heat or cool the teeth when you brush your teeth in the morning Interior and is looking forward to the new modern technology world.

Do you need that? No. Does it fascinate you? Yes.

Why is it fascinating?

Because everything works so perfectly. The Audi A3 Sportback e-tron is by far the best plugin hybrid I have ever driven. The interaction of TFSI petrol engine, electric motor and dual-clutch transmission works brilliantly. The rest of A3 still embodies the usual quality, it lacks nothing. And it also works perfectly when you just sit in the vehicle, electrically drive from socket to socket and enjoy the 40 liter of petrol in the tank away from everyday electrical life, with which you can easily put back more 800 kilometers.

The first tour ran over 112 kilometers and was started with maximum electric range. In the end, according to a colorful mixture of city, countryside and winding mountain passages consumption of 3.1 liters on average according to on-board computer and 8.1 consumed kW / h. The standard values ​​of 1.5 liter are, however, eyewash, because then you would have to drive the e-tron every day as it is the norm ECE R101 requires.

Does it make sense?
Phew A tough question. No. Actually it doesn't make sense. At the moment, the whole technology is extremely complex and expensive. The purchase price of the plug-in hybrid is terribly high. 37.900 € without having deviated from the sinful surcharge list. Painful. But just the price you pay for new technologies. In the coming generations of the automobile, more than ever before, one will have to look very carefully at which drive technology is suitable for which type of car driver.

The plug-in hybrid A3 e-tron Sportback is a car for wealthy technology nerds. A car for people who previously preferred an A3 Sportback to a more pragmatic automobile and now want to drive purely electrically. People who need the “kick” of modern technology to be happy. But not only.

And finally ...

The A3 e-tron (Plug-In Hybrid Sportback) is the most convincing bridge to a new automotive future. And he will certainly be just the beginning at Audi. The late-coming A4 should be available from the start (or shortly thereafter), also as A4 e-tron. But more about that when the time comes.