Motor Verso: Audi R8 e-tron will be put into Production

Audi has been teasing a production ready R8 e-tron for almost five years. At one point, the 375bhp supercar proved it could do 8 minutes, 9 seconds around the Nürburgring lap track. Meaning this would be the fastest electric production car ever made. Still, Audi said last summer that it was killing the project because of the high cost of the batteries.

Audi R8 e-tron Goes Into Production

Last Tuesday during a news conference, however, the company made a surprising announcement: the R8 e-tron will see life outside German testing tracks, and will be put into production.

“The Board of management of Audi AG has decided to offer the R8 e-tron as a sports car manufactured on customer’s request,” said Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Audi Chief Technical Officer.

After a review of the project, Dr. Hackenberg said his team has made great progress because of “advances in battery technology,” extending the range of the R8 e-tron to 279 miles. That is about 14 miles, more than a Tesla Model S can do.