Audi e-tron prototype recuperation test

The Audi e-tron prototype combines enormous power and high efficiency. With a system output of up to 400bhp, the full-size SUV with a fully electric drive accelerates from 0-100km/h in less than six seconds. In the WLTP test cycle, it covers more than 400km on one battery charge.

One important factor for the long range is the most innovative recuperation concept among the competitors. The electric SUV proved this with an impressive performance at Pikes Peak.

At 4,302m, Pikes Peak looms high in the southern Rocky Mountains. Where Walter Rohrl won the world's most famous hill climb in the Audi Sport quattro S1 back in 1987, it is the Audi e-tron prototype that is now causing a sensation with its recuperation system that is variable and thus the most efficient among all the competitors.

On its 31km downhill drive, the electric SUV feeds so much energy back to the battery that it can cover approximately the same distance again. The difference in altitude of about 1,900m provides the necessary conditions for this. The Audi e-tron prototype recuperates energy with up to 300Nm of torque and 295bhp of electric power - more than 70% of its operating energy input. No series production model has achieved such a value up to now.

The recuperation system contributes to up to 30% of the electric SUV's range. It involves both the two electric motors and the electro-hydraulically integrated brake control system. For the first time, three different recuperation modes are combined: manual coasting recuperation using the shift paddles, automatic coasting recuperation via the predictive efficiency assist, and brake recuperation with smooth transition between electric and hydraulic deceleration.

Up to 0.3g, the Audi e-tron prototype recuperates energy solely via the electric motors, without using the conventional brake - that covers over 90% of all decelerations. As a result, energy is fed back to the battery in practically all normal braking manoeuvres.