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Audi is testing prototypes of the A1 e-tron, a handsome range extended electric vehicle that uses a Wankel rotary engine to keep you going when the battery goes dead.
Audi unveiled the A1 e-tron concept earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show, calling it “a compact electric car in the premium class.” The 12 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery is good for 31 miles. Beyond that, a 254cc Wankel rotary engine drives a 15 kilowatt generator that keeps juice flowing to the 45 kilowatt (continuous) motor. It’s essentially a Chevrolet Volt in a taut Teutonic body.
The Germans plan to offer the car in Europe — and might reprise the A2 name — but there’s been no decision on whether we’ll see it on this side of the Atlantic, according to Automotive News Europe. Tests are now underway, and so far, so good.
“We will start a pilot project at the end of the year,” Michael Dick, Audi’s board member for technology, told Motor Trend. “The first prototype car is running very well at the moment. We hope to make a small series at the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013.”
Why a Wankel? They’re light, they’re compact and they’re smooth, Dick says. And by providing a range extender, he says, Audi can minimize the “range anxiety” that comes with a pure EV.
“The range extender is like the auxiliary engine in a sailboat,” he told Motor Trend. “If there is no wind, then you motor in to your harbor.”
Photo: Audi. The A1 e-tron concept on the stand in Geneva.

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Fuente: Autopia