Audi is in desperate need of a halo car. The TT was sent to pasture in 2023, while the R8 was killed off last year. Just yesterday, the company revealed the Concept C, a sporty coupe marked for production, meant to fill the shoes of both cars. It has a power targa top and some distinctive looks that, personally, I really like.
All signs pointed to the production version of the Concept C being offered exclusively as an EV, though I’ve been secretly holding out hope Audi would offer a cheaper, lighter combustion-powered version. Those dreams have been squashed by a spokesperson for the company, who confirmed to Motor1 that Audi’s new sports car will not have a tailpipe.
From Motor1’s report.
Daniel Schuster, Spokesperson for Technical Development, shut down rumors of a combustion-engine Concept C. In a statement to Motor1, he confirmed the performance machine will be sold exclusively as an EV. He also revealed the car will ride on a newly developed platform “that will be shared within the [Volkswagen] Group.”
To hear the production car will be an EV-only affair isn’t terribly surprising. Though it’s recently backed away from plans to be an EV-only manufacturer by 2033, Audi remains committed to pushing its lineup of electric cars, so having one at the very top of its product range makes sense. This car was also probably first greenlit a few years back, before carmakers started realizing no one really wants electric sports cars.
Other companies within the VW Group are having a difficult time bringing their respective performance EVs to market. Lamborghini revealed its Lanzador concept back in 2023, with plans to bring a version to production in 2028. Then, back in December, the Italian supercar maker delayed the car’s launch by one year. Then, just last month, CEO Stephan Winkelmann told CarExpert the Lanzador might not end up being an EV at all, but rather a plug-in hybrid. In that same interview, he also axed plans to turn the Urus SUV into an EV.
Porsche, meanwhile, announced plans in 2022 to replace its much-loved 718 sports car with an all-electric version by the middle of the decade. Though the company hasn’t said anything official, rumors suggest the car’s been delayed due to battery issues, with a launch pushed back to 2027.
Going by Schuster’s statement above, Motor1 seems to think the 718’s replacement and this new Audi will ride on the same platform. It’s a logical theory—Audi’s borrows the Porsche Taycan’s platform to build the e-tron GT, after all. And its previous halo car, the R8, borrowed its platform from the Lamborghini Huracán (and previously, the Gallardo). So the Concept C doing something similar makes sense. That’s the beauty of being a multi-brand conglomerate.
It also means the production Audi sports car should be fun to drive. The most exciting Audis are based on other cars from the VW Group, in my experience. So I have big expectations. Electric or not, this thing needs to stir emotions and get people excited about the brand. That’s the whole point of a halo car.
Top graphic image: Audi
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Even Though No One Wants an EV Sports Car
Correction: almost no one wants an overweight, ICE-derivative-design, overpriced EV sports car.
25 years ago, the auto industry could have been building Miata-priced, Miata-sized, super/hypercar-performance, mostly-analogue EV sports cars, that still had decent range when you kept your foot out of it, and they chose not to. The technology has gotten better since.
EV drive systems have the potential to make a sports car something even more raw, visceral, and untamed than any ICE, and no offerings available in the USA are at all taking advantage of this. It’s as if the automakers are afraid they’ll cannibalize the sales of more expensive, more wasteful offerings.
To keep mass down, the battery needs to be kept small. To keep range acceptable with a small battery, an EV sportscar should logically be a streamliner.
Today, we could and should have something sub-Miata-sized, with a CdA equal to or better than a GM EV1, with a < 40 kWh pack, a sub-2,500 lb curb weight, 300+ horsepower, and at a Miata-like price point. China is already proving something like what I describe is possible with a less-aerodynamic offering called the SC01. The USA and Europe could have done something much like it in 1998 on battery tech only a fraction as good, if the specs on the Zytec Elise and AC Propulsion TZero are to be believed.
I would also consider an all electric bare bones, affordable sports car.
I’m surprised how hard every media outlet seems to write off ev sports cars even though the last sorta affordable one was the Tesla roadster in 2012.I would like to see what an EV put fully through the filter of make it fun would be like because at this point the closest thing is the Ioniq 5 N.
I, for one, really really REALLY REALLY want an affordable EV sports car. Who are these fools they’re polling? Hell, I’d take an affordable performance oriented sedan not manufactured by a Nazi. I specifically do not want a Crossover or SUV EV.
Please don’t make it with those dumb fake engine noises. Electric cars make their own unique noises. Amplify those instead.
It’ll be blisteringly quick and undoubtedly comfy inside. I hope there is some serious aerodynamic trickery going on to give it a decent range without a giant battery. That will help with cornering and tire life. EV’s can be currently made to handle well. But taking two corners quickly means it’s tire time. Or so it feels. I have an EV but don’t regularly use it’s full power/handling to get a reasonable lifespan from the tires.
I’ve recently warmed up to EVs a lot and will consider one for my next commuter car in a few years, but it’s wild how out of touch manufacturers are with actual customers. I get that Ze Germans assume they know more than everyone else and uh….have a storied history of forcing bad things on people, but this product is DOA.
VAG’s BEVs are just not competitive outside of the Taycan/E Tron GT, which force you to sacrifice a lot of range in the name of good driving dynamics. I’d personally sign up for that, but I don’t think the average person who’s shopping for a six figure EV super sedan would, which is why used E Tron GTs can be had for 50 grand at this point. You can even find Taycans for that much.
The current Q6, A6, etc. are more or less a generation behind and on top of it they’re saddled with VAG’s signature anti-styling. They’re also overpriced and overweight on top of all of that. As I mentioned recently my neighbor just swapped their ICE Macan for a Macan EV and I cannot overstate how much of a net 0 the styling is. It’s a rolling egg.
On top of that if you have infinite money and want an EV hypercar it’s not hard to get your hands on one for way less money than they initially sold for. Hell isn’t Pininfarina struggling to get reservations for theirs? Hell Rimac would be circling the drain if VAG didn’t have a huge stake in them. Suffice to say if you’re well heeled and want one of these things it’s not exactly like trying to find an F40 or Carrera GT.
They’ll sell like two of these and both of them will be leased. I’m not sure if there’s a company that’s more out of touch than Audi these days. They’ve completely lost the plot. I think VAG overall is too big to die but their ability to consistently shoot themselves in the dick over and over again needs to be studied. You vant an ICE sports car? NEIN! You shall get ze EVs and you shall LIKE THEM!
but it’s wild how out of touch manufacturers are with actual customers.
I’ll keep beating that dead horse myself.
I was in my mid-twenties, working as a designer at a well-known firm with an office overlooking a lake near downtown when the original TT was released. Despite being the dead-center target market for the car, it never appealed to me. It was too cartoony and trying way too hard, while not being as good to drive as a Civic Si or even VAGs own VW. It was certainly not in the same league as something like a Supra or S2000. Not until near the end of its run did the TT ever feel like anything other than a fashion-first option.
BEV sports cars are tricky for sure. Electric power is about as neutral as possible, so that isn’t the issue. The problem is all about the weight. While a low GOG helps control body roll, which can help maintain good spreadsheet performance numbers, it can’t make the car responsive. The fact that BEVs all weigh the same as a F150, there isn’t currently a way to make a BEV sportscar drive like a sportscar.
The most pointless segment to electrify, both commercially and environmentally
As noted, nobody wants an EV sports car. VW/AUDI’s response: Let’s roll-out a halo EV sports car!
Chinese EV makers are now unveiling EV hypercars and they’ll cost a fraction of what this thing will, and those EVs hypercars will be on their second generation long before the first one of these things hits a showroom floor (see: rollout time for the ID BUZZ). Meanwhile continued development of things consumers want – ICE, hybrids, fuels, etc – are ignored in Wolfsburg.
Open pleading to VW/AUDI (and Porsche re: announcing the end of ICE Boxster/Cayman): Please stop shooting yourselves in the foot.
They’ve missed the window that Rimac had by years.
Now, any EV company could make something blisteringly fast and 90% off the mark of whomever holds the performance-crown-du-jour. And the jousting of the top spot will continue – but who wants to pay for having the performance vehicle of September 2025 when October 2025 knights a new champion to knock it off its horse?
Well I don’t want one, or Audi in general. But it’s not said that it could not be done in interesting way. I mean original TT was hardly a sports car, but it looked just fantastic and sold well. And there’s nothing wrong with cool looking smallish coupe, most fast cars in history haven’t really been sports cars (looking at you american muscle).
I still think sporty EV can be done, but I think it requires light weight, and some mystical springle of X factor and that most likely means it not for this generation.
But perhaps something in the spirit of the original TT, so lots of style, some practicality and golf driving dynamics (and this time round most likely not the same underpinnings).
I am shocked how badly the high end brands misjudged the market for EVs. Objectively, EVs are better in most ways. An Apple watch—or even a Timex—is better than a Rolex is most ways too. But in the ways that matter to the people who want them, a $20,000 Apple Watch is not a substitute for a Rolex.
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