A few days ago, the Audi urbansphere concept car officially debuted. The new car is built on the PPE platform, with MPV-like shape and 3400mm ultra-long wheelbase, while the interior is a 2+2 4-seat layout, with more innovative intelligent interaction and technology configurations, as well as support for L4 level autonomous driving systems.
It is worth mentioning that the car was built by the Audi China design team and the German design center, which can co-create the design according to the needs of Chinese customers. In addition, the new car also shows the future direction of the Audi brand and products.
The Audi urbansphere concept car has a vehicle shape similar to an MPV, and the front face adopts Audi's latest design. The entire front face has a huge front grille, while the front grille is all composed of LED light sources and can be lit up gradually.
The light source of the dot matrix varies in size and can show different visual effects, and with the LED headlights in the upper part, as well as the front and rear brand LOGO that can be self-illuminating, through the digital design and animation effect of this light, a visual sense of digital grille is created visually.
Thanks to the advantages of similar MPV shapes, the Audi urbansphere concept car has a larger driving space and adopts a front and rear door design, which allows passengers to have a wider space to move when getting on and off the bus.
At the same time, the entire car from the front to the rear of the car is covered with a huge curved glass, which also makes the whole car shape streamlined and dynamic. With a length, width and height of 5510mm, 2010mm and 1780mm, and a wheelbase of 3400mm, it is arguably the largest of all Audi concept cars to date.
The rear shape of the car is solid and rich in three-dimensional layering, the most eye-catching is the gradient LED tail light group, the upper part is an LED light strip, the lower part is the style that echoes the front grille light source, which has a cool visual effect after lighting, of which "lamp language" can also be used as an interactive tool with the outside world.
In terms of interior, the interior design of the Audi Urbansphere concept car is designed by the interior design team of Audi China, which is defined as a habitat away from the hustle and bustle, with soft beige and gray as the main colors, and a large number of wooden decorations and sustainable raw materials.
Among them, the entire center console adopts wooden material surrounding, and the entire back panel replaces the design of the daily large-size central control screen through the form of projection. Either the driver or passenger can quickly switch between functions such as music or navigation by using the sensing area below the projection. It is worth mentioning that because the Audi urbansphere has L4 automatic driving, the steering wheel, throttle brake pedal and dashboard can also be completely retracted.
The large and comfortable wrap-around seats in the car can be rotated at any time, and the seat headrests, doors, and center consoles in the car have light belt-type ambience lights, and the entire seat is wide, especially the headrests that extend out, resemblishing the future battleship car. In relaxation and entertainment mode, the seat backrest can be tilted up to 60 degrees and the leg rest can be extended simultaneously. The central armrests on the side of the seat and the door armrests create a high degree of security.
In the center of the rear seats, there is a small table that can be lifted and lowered, and the tea set is hidden under the small table board, so that the passengers in the car can enjoy this at any time. At the same time, the rear of the seat is equipped with a hidden display for the entertainment of rear passengers, and each seat is equipped with a separate sound area with speakers located on the headrest.
The roof is also equipped with a huge transparent screen that can be lifted and lowered to the front of the two seats, and then through a "cinema screen" that crosses the interior of the car, the two passengers in the back row can participate in video conferences or watch movies together. It is reported that this large screen can also be used in separate screens, when there is no need to use the large screen, due to its transparent design, passengers can directly and clearly see the front. In addition, the screen can be retracted upwards when not in use, and it can eventually be integrated with the glass roof.
When the rear passengers get on the car, the seats in the car will also have a slight external rotation, and there will be red carpet-like lights, like a butler to guide and welcome passengers to the car. At this time, the flowing atmosphere lights in the car will also be lit up just right, like a warm hug, bringing passengers a pleasant sense of welcome ceremony.
It is worth mentioning that near the inner cut in the car door, a unique and innovative control element is also installed: MMI inductive control. When the passenger 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, click on the corresponding interface, and the operation is simple and intuitive.
In addition, thanks to the combination of eye tracking and gesture control, passengers can still use this convenient function when the seat is fully reclines backwards. Sensors will track eye movements and identify gaze and line of sight. Passengers simply perform simulated hand movements similar to touch operations, without having to lean over or make any contact, making the operating system easy.
At the same time, the control panel is integrated in the armrest of the door. In this way, the car can always provide passengers with a touch screen with visual information and show its position through an optical indicator. At the same time, VR glasses are equipped with VR glasses on the armrests of the left and right doors, which can be combined with infotainment systems including Holoride.
In terms of power, the Audi urbansphere concept car uses two front/rear drive motors, with a total output of 295kW and a peak torque of 690Nm, and is also equipped with an electric quattro four-wheel drive system, and the front and rear axles are equipped with a motor, which can achieve four-wheel drive through electronic control if necessary. In addition, the car is equipped with Audi adaptive air suspension.
The Audi urbansphere concept car can also choose to deactivate the front axle motor as needed to reduce friction during coasting and effectively reduce energy consumption. With the blessing of 800 volt charging technology, the car can charge the battery from 5% to 80% in 25 minutes, and the WLTP range is expected to reach 750km.
In fact, through the Audi urbansphere concept car, it is not difficult to see that Audi is actively building a comprehensive digital ecosystem that provides services for the whole vehicle, and with Audi's own services and the integration of digital services from suppliers, consumers can obtain various services related to the current itinerary, and can also deal with daily affairs outside the trip, such as ordering meals in the car or shopping online. In addition, the Audi urbansphere concept with advanced autonomous driving capabilities can automatically pick up passengers at the consumer's place of residence and can independently find parking lots and charging facilities.
(Photo/Text Liu Kanshun)