Audi e-tron Vision Turismo arrives from Playstation to racetrack

The all-electric concept car will be used as a race taxi in Formula E.

Originally developed exclusively for virtual races on PlayStation 4, Audi decided to make the e-tron Vision Gran Turismo a reality. This unique real-world interpretation of a virtual car has been engineered in conjunction with Formula E.

Starting with the race in Rome on Saturday, April 14, 2018, the e-tron Vision Gran Turismo will be deployed as a race taxi. The customers and guests of the brand with the four rings will be able to experience Formula E’s city circuits as passengers of the Audi e-tron Vision Gran Turismo.

Audi’s pre-production centre developed and produced this one-of-a-kind car within the period of just 11 months based on the example of the e-tron Vision Gran Turismo from the Gran Turismo PlayStation game. A best-selling game, Gran Turismo has long acquired a cult status within the gamers’ community around the globe. Audi has been working together with Sony and Polyphony Digital – the creators of Gran Turismo – for nearly 20 years.

Audi designers created the Audi e-tron Vision Gran Turismo for the Vision Gran Turismo competition that was launched on the occasion of the popular game’s 15th anniversary. Numerous automobile manufacturers developed virtual race cars for the contest. Many of these concept cars were subsequently built as full-scale models as well and presented at trade shows. The e-tron Vision Gran Turismo, however, is the first concept car of this range to be deployed to real-world race tracks as a fully functional vehicle.

The car sports permanent all-wheel drive with variable power distribution. Three electric motors, each with output of ~268bhp, propel the concept car. Two electric motors drive the rear axle, and a third one drives the front axle, using individual components from the future Audi e-tron, making the total system output of ~804bhp.

With a curb weight of 1,450kg, the electric race car has a power to weight ratio of 1.78 kg/hp, with an ideal 50:50 percent weight distribution between the front and the rear axle. The Audi e-tron Vision Gran Turismo accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in under 2.5 seconds.

This futuristic race taxi will be deployed at all European Formula E races and numerous other events in 2018. At the wheel will be former DTM driver Rahel Frey from Switzerland or Le Mans winner Dindo Capello from Italy.