The author | yy source | the editorial department of Jiguo
In luxury car companies, Audi's electrification speed can be said to be a significant lead over its competitors.
Last July, Audi announced in advance of the 2021 Munich Motor Show in Germany that it would release three new concept electric vehicles named "sphere", namely skysphere, grandsphere and urbansphere.
At present, two models have been officially released, skysphere is a two-door convertible, grandsphere is a pure electric concept car, and the last chapter of the "Audi Three Chapters" is this urbansphere concept car, which was originally planned to debut at the Beijing Auto Show.
However, due to the postponement of the auto show, this new car has chosen to make its world debut online today.
Urbansphere was developed in collaboration with Audi's design studio in Beijing and its headquarters in Ingolstadt, interpreting the car as a third living space.
As the finale of the entire series, its product positioning is mainly a pure electric leisure travel model with spacious space, with reference to the car habits of the Chinese market, designed for the crowded urban environment, and hopes to cause strong repercussions in the domestic market in the future.
Incidentally, in the design process of this car, Audi also used VR technology to allow users to simulate the feeling in the car in advance, which greatly accelerated the research and development progress of new cars.
Without further ado, let's get a feel for the magic of this new car.
Urbansphere , as the name suggests , is designed for urban use and, more specifically, for customers in Chinese megacities , and it's actually the first Audi model specifically launched to meet the needs of Chinese customers.
In terms of appearance, the Urbansphere body size is 5510 * 2010 * 1780 haum, the wheelbase is 3400 mm, and the four-seat design is the largest size concept car Audi has ever seen.
The front face adopts a streamlined shape, full of sporty feeling, the front windshield shape is also quite inclined, and the body side is also equipped with double A-pillar and small window design, full of technology.
And the front face of the new car is equipped with a huge front grille, the entire front grille is composed of LED light sources, which can be lit up in a gradient. A digital light panel embedded behind the light-colored transparent panel makes it interactive and can send a clear signal to other vehicles or pedestrians through dynamic lighting effects, improving driving safety.
The "Audi Eye" light cluster above the left and right of the integrated grille also adopts a digital lighting unit, and the lamp surface area can be adjusted according to traffic conditions, environment and user feelings. For example, when used as a running light during the day, the light can be focused and dispersed, and at critical times, the digital light strip can also be used as a dynamic turn signal to further improve the recognition effect.
The echoing taillight pattern is also a gradient display, using a through-style and a unique welcome mode, which can display complex light patterns and patterns to form a futuristic appearance.
Looking at the body side of the Urbansphere, it is somewhat similar to the shape of the MPV, maximizing the sitting space in the car, using the design of the front and rear gates, and there is no B-pillar, so that when the current rear door is opened, it shows a huge and comfortable seating space, further enhancing the luxury and texture of the vehicle.
The wheels feature a 24-inch double six-spoke design inspired by the classic Audi Avus concept car of the 90s.
In general, the highlights of the exterior design of the new car are mainly in a large number of digital display lighting functions, which are very innovative.
In terms of interior, Audi also continued the concept of "taking the interior space as the core" this time, and adopted a wrap-around design for the urbansphere concept car, so that users can have a feeling of home in the car, equipped with a number of mood lights and other lighting configurations, further creating a driving atmosphere in the car.
At the same time, a lot of wooden decoration is used in the car, which looks very close. The wide seats can also be rotated at any time, and the headrests, doors, and center consoles in the car have light-band ambience lights, and the headrests are also malleable.
In relaxation and entertainment mode, the rear seat backrests can be tilted up to 60 degrees and the leg rests can be extended simultaneously.
The entire center console is also designed with wooden materials, and at the same time, the entire back panel replaces the design of the traditional large-size central control screen through the form of projection, which has a sense of cosmic cockpit.
Coupled with the fact that the urbansphere has L4 automatic driving, its steering wheel and accelerator brake pedal can be fully retracted, just a fingertip tap can wake up the whole car, the functions should be activated at the right time, which also greatly enhances the sense of space and freedom in the car space, the experience is very sci-fi.
There is also a small table board in the center of the rear seat that can be lifted and lowered, and the automation is in place.
The tea set is hidden under the small table board, and the overall details are very well placed.
The door integrates seat adjustment, door control, etc., and near the inside cut of the door, a unique and innovative control element is installed: MMI induction control.
When the user sits up straight, at a certain distance from the control area, he can manually select various function menus through the knobs or buttons on this control element, and the operation is simple and intuitive.
At the same time, there is a hidden display at the rear of the seat, and there is a giant screen on the roof that can be lowered between the two seats, which is more entertaining while being comfortable.
The large screen can also be used in split screens. When there is no need to use the large screen, passengers can see directly and clearly ahead due to its transparent design. Passengers also have the option to fold the screen up to blend in with the glass roof.
Overall, the urbansphere interior is luxurious enough that the price shouldn't be too beautiful if mass-produced...
Finally, let's take a look at the power configuration of the Audi urbansphere concept car, which will be built on the PPE platform, will be equipped with dual motors front and rear, and the total output of the system is 295 kilowatts, and the torque can reach 690 Nm.
It is worth mentioning that the new car can choose to disable the front axle motor as needed to reduce friction during coasting and effectively reduce energy consumption.
The new car has a battery capacity of 120 kWh and uses 800 volt charging technology. Thanks to this technology, in the fast charging station, the vehicle can reach a charging power of 270 kilowatts, and it takes only ten minutes to charge, and the cruising range can be increased by more than 300 kilometers. In 25 minutes, the battery can be charged from 5% to 80%. At the same time, the WLTP range of the new car is expected to reach 750 kilometers.
In addition, like the Audi Grandsphere Concept, the new car is equipped with Audi Adaptive Air Suspension, an air suspension system with semi-active damping control, which provides better driving comfort.
At present, Audi officials did not say that this car will be put into actual mass production in the future, but it represents the prototype of the new car that Audi will launch in 2025, which can be understood as a product that is more like a forward-looking attempt at future autonomous driving technology and pure electric luxury cars, which is still very positive, do you think?