The EV thread
I don’t think we have a dedicated EV thread so here goes:
Robert Pepper is an automotive journalist who is more of an acquaintance than a mate (I have met him through a 4WD club and we are FB friends). He doesn’t play favourites and conducts his own research to test manufacturers’ claims. The following is his take on the recent Dakar rally:
An EV has won Dakar! No it didn't, it's not an EV!
So which is it? An electric vehicle, or a petrol vehicle? The opposing camps are each claiming the vehicle as their own.
The answer is both and neither. It's a hybrid. Similar in fact to Nissan's X-Trail e-Power.
So the Audi RS Q e-tron is indeed pure electric drive. It has an electric motor on the front axle, and another on the rear. The "centre differential" is software, virtual. This is just like Rivians, AWD Teslas including Cybertruck and the other AWD EVs. There is no gearbox, single-speed. Watch my EV AWD powertrains video for more on all of this.
The Audi RS Q e-tron also has a battery which weighs around 370kg and has a capacity of around 52kWh, which is pretty small for even a roadcar EV. Total weight is 2100kg without drivers.
Now as you can imagine a 52kWh battery isn't going to get a 2100kg sand racer on 37" tyres very far. Which is why there is also a 2.0L, four-cyclinder turbo petrol engine which acts as a generator, or energy convertor - it generates electricity which either powers the motors at the axle, or charges the battery. The battery can also be recharged via re-gen when the vehicle slows. And that's exactly what the X-Trail e-Power uses. Older hybrids used the ICE motors to directly drive the powertrain as well as the electric motors.
So is the Audi RS Q e-tron an EV? Yes, and also, no. Yes as it has electric motors which drive the car, and that is the technical definition of an EV, which doesn't preclude how those motors have their power supplied - from a generator driven by petrol, hydrogen, or just a big battery, or even solar. A "hydrogen car" is also an EV as it uses electricity to power its engine, just that electricity is generated by a hydrogen powerplant. The definition of an EV doesn't mean it has to have a battery.
But in popular parlance, most people think of an EV as what is actually a BEV, or Battery Electric Vehicle which has no ICE (petrol/diesel) engine at all, and the Audi RS Q e-tron is not a BEV as whilst it has a battery, it also has a petrol engine.
Hopefully that clears it up. You can go back to shouting at each other now which should make everyone feel better.