TRON LEGACY

Audi for the first time ever has stuck an RS badge to an all electric car. Blasphemy, I hear you scream. I would’ve cried foul too and then, I got behind the steering wheel only to be blown away with what Audi has created

- Abhik Das

For any automaker famed for producing the best, fastest, wildest imagination of an internal combustion car, it becomes more of a burden to carry forward that legacy into the electric future. That future is right now, fast spiralling into the new normal and mainstream automakers don’t want to find themselves playing catch up. That’s the reason why we’re already seeing quick developments in EV technology and flagship cars are setting new benchmarks. Benchmarks that were previously only exclusive to ultra high-end performance cars developed over decades are now easily being achieved by their newer electric counterparts, only limited by battery technology.

Quick is the underlying theme for EVs, from development to performance and the latter is what I’ll focus on. Especially with the Audi RS e-tron GT, quick is what would describe it in understated terms. If you’re swayed by figures alone then a claimed 3.3 seconds run to 100kmph from a standstill is probably one of the first things to grip your mind, pun intended. I used the onboard acceleration timer to do multiple runs on a closed, private road and the figure went down to 3.1 seconds on a number of occasions even hitting 3.0 seconds once. And a number of occasions means a number of launches that the RS e-tron GT managed without any drop in battery performance. Try that in an equally powerful internal combustion engine and you’re looking at jaw dropping figures, not just the acceleration times but a bill for replacement clutch plates, apart from the looming expenses for other mechanicals that’ll surely find their way into your pockets. In an EV, you’re only looking to replace tyres at best for another trip to the track. Let this sink in till you realise just how much of a difference there is in the running costs of an EV.