On the evening of April 19, the final chapter of Audi's "sphere trilogy", the Audi urbansphere concept car (hereinafter referred to as the Audi urbansphere), was officially released. Unlike the audi skysphere concept car of the pure electric GT sports car and the audi grandsphere concept car of the pure electric large car released earlier, the urbansphere exudes a "practical first" atmosphere from the inside out.
When it comes to the pursuit of practicality of products, Chinese consumers dare to say second, and no one dares to say first. Perhaps because of this, the Audi China design team in Beijing played a crucial role in the design of the Audi urbansphere. At the same time, the interior of the car is also the result of "innovation and co-creation" between Audi and Chinese consumers.
The largest of the Audi concept cars
The overall shape of the Audi urbansphere is similar to the MPV model, which is 5.51 meters long, 2.01 meters wide and 1.78 meters high, plus a wheelbase of 3.40 meters, making it the largest of all Audi concept cars to date. Even if you look at the entire car market, you can't find a few passenger cars that are larger than it.
What is the significance of Audi urbansphere designs that are out of the ordinary? Through the name of "sphere", it can be seen that the core of the sphere series models lies in the interior space. When designing, the interior of the car is always placed in the first place, and then the overall structure, exterior lines, body proportions, etc. As for how amazing the interior of the Audi urbansphere is, I'll tell you about it later.
In terms of appearance, the unique one-piece grille, digital embellished light surface, wide and dynamic, curved roof arch, the threshold trim that surrounds the position of the battery unit, and the 24-inch double six-spoke design wheels, every design of the Audi urbansphere makes it jump out of this era. In addition, the interior of the integrated grille is designed with a luminous unit, which Audi calls the "Audi LightIng Canvas". Through computer calculations, various luminous diagrams can be displayed on the top to achieve communication with surrounding vehicles or pedestrians, thereby improving driving safety. The rear of the car also has a matrix LED glossy surface with a similar function.
You can switch the mobile terminal of the application scenario
The Audi urbansphere's doors are split to open, and when opened, the stunning interior mentioned earlier comes into view. At the same time, the seats rotate outwards, and a beam of light is lit up like a "red carpet", full of ritual.
Similar to the design of the MPV model, the Audi urbansphere has a huge interior space, and the design of only four seats is designed to bring passengers the luxurious comfort of first class. In terms of seat function, the rear seat backrest supports up to 60 degrees of reclining, the front seats can be rotated backwards, and each seat has a separate sound area.
In addition, there is a transparent OLED screen behind the front seats. When it is usually raised, it blends in with the glass roof. When dropped, its transparent feature allows rear passengers to see clearly in front of them. In terms of functions, you can open a video conference or watch a movie, and you can also use it on split screen.
In the front row, the dashboard, steering wheel, gear shift lever, etc. of the regular model are all absent in the Audi urbansphere, because the support for L4 level automatic driving reduces the importance of these configurations a lot. But when the driver wants to take over the vehicle, they can be swapped out at any time.
In the Audi urbansphere car, through various digital configurations, this can be a conference hall, a cinema, a concert hall, a lounge, etc. At the Audi urbansphere, the car is no longer just a means of travel, but has evolved into a mobile terminal that can switch application scenarios.
PPE pure electric exclusive platform to create
In terms of power, the Audi urbansphere is equipped with two electric motors with a total output of 295 kW and a torque of up to 690 Nm, while the new car is also equipped with an electric quattro four-wheel drive system, which can be driven by electronic control when necessary, maintaining the perfect balance between driving dynamics and energy economy. What is even more commendable is that the Audi urbansphere can choose to deactivate the front axle motor as needed to reduce friction during coasting and effectively reduce energy consumption.
In addition, audi urbansphere is based on the PPE platform focusing on electric drive systems, due to the use of an integral body baseplate between the axles, the battery module can be used in a flat layout, which can be lowered to increase the range of the battery pack with a larger capacity.
At the heart of Audi's urbansphere drive system is 800-volt charging technology. Thanks to this technology, in the fast charging station, the vehicle can reach a charging power of 270 kilowatts, which only needs to be charged for ten minutes, which is enough to increase the cruising range of more than 300 kilometers. Charge the battery from 5% to 80% in just 25 minutes.
In terms of chassis, the Audi urbansphere has a five-link suspension structure optimized for electric vehicles in the front axle and a multi-link structure on the rear axle. In addition, the addition of adaptive air suspension allows the vehicle to provide superior driving comfort on the highway, and even if driving on bumpy and potholed urban roads, the body will not appear significantly shaken, the state is stable, and the comfort is still the same.
The three concept cars of the Audi sphere series show the design direction of Audi's future electric products of different levels. From design to research and development, Audi China team and Chinese consumers are involved in the Audi urbansphere, which is enough to show that the Chinese market is becoming more and more important to Audi.
At present, China has always been at the forefront of the world in innovative fields such as intelligent interconnection, electrification and autonomous driving. Here, there is also a group of discerning customers. Therefore, Dr. Wen Zeyue, President of Audi China, boldly said bluntly, "In the future in China, Audi will become more Chinese." Stephan Fahr-Becker, head of audi china design, also said that "audi's products that meet the Chinese market will be favored around the world." This is the inexhaustible driving force that drives us forward. ”
It is not difficult to see that in the upcoming era of electrification, Audi China will continue to strengthen its local research and development capabilities, actively develop cars, products and technologies for the Chinese market, and meet the beautiful vision of domestic users for future high-end urban travel.