Photo: Kleber Silva on Behance
As you may have heard by now, the Audi TT will be replaced by an EV, “a new emotive model in the same price range.” The most affordable model for the time being starts at €42,050 in Germany, and this price point offers a few glimpses about the future of the coupe and roadster.
The thing is, Volkwagen appears to be interested in a compact-sized electric sports car as well. Speaking to Autocar in February 2020, motorsport director Sven Smeets said that “we’re working on the first batteries for performance road vehicles, using the dedicated team from the ID.R racing car.”
Currently dubbed the ID.R by the motoring media (not to be confused with the ID.R record-breaking e-racer), the e-sports car has been rendered by Kleber Silva with very familiar design cues. The headlights and front fascia take inspiration from the ID.3 electric hatchback, which is the first Volkswagen to feature the MEB vehicle architecture. As for the body style and the color of the soft top, those are lifted from the 2009 BlueSport concept.
The one-off study isn’t electric, though. Presented at the North American International Auto Show, the BlueSport takes its mojo from a Clean Diesel engine that drives the rear wheels with the help of a six-speed DSG transmission. The times, however, have changed because the Dieselgate scandal has spelled the end of compression-ignition mills and diesel fuel.
Even semi-truck manufacturers are planning to ditch internal combustion for hydrogen fuel cells or battery-electric setups by 2040, and lest we forget, the sale of new passenger cars with ICE will be banned in Norway in 2025. Turning our attention back to Volkswagen, the ID.R would be pretty cheap to develop as well because the technological know-how is already there.
At the time of writing, the most potent ID. model in the lineup is the ID.4 crossover with the dual-motor option. In this configuration, the jacked-up brother of the ID.3 develops 302 horsepower (306 PS), a rating that far exceeds the 242 horsepower (245 PS) of the Audi TT 45 TFSI S tronic.
There is, however, a plot twist that needs to be taken into consideration. According to Auto Express, the four-ringed automaker is looking into an all-new model called the eTTron. This nomenclature is a mix of TT and e-tron, which could translate to an electric crossover of sorts instead of a fixed-head coupe or a soft-top roadster with two seats and low ground clearance.
Currently dubbed the ID.R by the motoring media (not to be confused with the ID.R record-breaking e-racer), the e-sports car has been rendered by Kleber Silva with very familiar design cues. The headlights and front fascia take inspiration from the ID.3 electric hatchback, which is the first Volkswagen to feature the MEB vehicle architecture. As for the body style and the color of the soft top, those are lifted from the 2009 BlueSport concept.
The one-off study isn’t electric, though. Presented at the North American International Auto Show, the BlueSport takes its mojo from a Clean Diesel engine that drives the rear wheels with the help of a six-speed DSG transmission. The times, however, have changed because the Dieselgate scandal has spelled the end of compression-ignition mills and diesel fuel.
Even semi-truck manufacturers are planning to ditch internal combustion for hydrogen fuel cells or battery-electric setups by 2040, and lest we forget, the sale of new passenger cars with ICE will be banned in Norway in 2025. Turning our attention back to Volkswagen, the ID.R would be pretty cheap to develop as well because the technological know-how is already there.
At the time of writing, the most potent ID. model in the lineup is the ID.4 crossover with the dual-motor option. In this configuration, the jacked-up brother of the ID.3 develops 302 horsepower (306 PS), a rating that far exceeds the 242 horsepower (245 PS) of the Audi TT 45 TFSI S tronic.
There is, however, a plot twist that needs to be taken into consideration. According to Auto Express, the four-ringed automaker is looking into an all-new model called the eTTron. This nomenclature is a mix of TT and e-tron, which could translate to an electric crossover of sorts instead of a fixed-head coupe or a soft-top roadster with two seats and low ground clearance.
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