Audi has launched its first electric vehicle under the RS badge, and it has raised an interesting discussion. It has got people thinking about the future of performance cars, and also about the car in a broader sense.
In our view, the vehicle is better than the Porsche Taycan, but don’t be surprised when we tell you that both vehicles are much similar. As, both have twin electric motors, 800V battery, three-chamber air suspension, and J1 platform, all the components that make these vehicles go and stop are pretty much the same. So, if you say that the RS E-tron GT is simply a Taycan wearing an Audi badge, you wouldn’t entirely be wrong, mainly because the Taycan came first.
So, among the question you would want to ask is how much truth such labels hold. But, the most important question is how different the future electric performance cars would be from one another. It’s only fair to ask what we should expect from the future models, as we don’t want to be highly disappointed.
First, we will talk about the second question and then we will get to the first question. There are a lot of things that combine to define a car’s ride, like cylinder count, forced induction, transmission type, and engine positioning. Such things give the vehicle a unique feel.
But, when it comes to high-performance EVs, you will see some pattern of consistency. You will see many EVs having batteries beneath the floor and an electric motor upfront. This provides a low center of gravity and better weight distribution as well as immediate throttle response.
Both the Audi and Taycan follow the same pattern as well. The system provides the vehicles with 608lb-ft and 593bhp, where during launch control starts, the power rises to 637bhp. It’s not as much as Taycan, which can develop a peak power of 662bhp, but it’s enough to make it the most powerful RS model and enable it to reach 61mph in just 3.4sec.
So, how different are the two vehicles? The technical project manager for Audi’s vehicle, Dennis Schmitz says the clue is in the name. They want to provide an electric car with high performance as well as everyday usability. This is why they call it a gran turismo, which means it’s super-sporty and it’s extremely usable as well. It’s a car people would love to travel alone in as well as with families.