SLIPPERY SLOPE

The British ski team needed a ride to Kitzbühel... we had just the car for the job

- OLLIE MARRIAGE

Kitzbühel is pumping. Heaving. It hums and vibrates, shimmers with life and energy in a way that's entirely explained by the 100,000 people who have crammed themselves into this small medieval Tyrolean town (usual population 8,300).

Frosted breath steams into the chilled air as the crowds cheer and chant, cowbells swing frantically, Europop blares, beer sloshes, flares and flags wave erratically and bratwurst is consumed.

This is the Hahnenkammrennen, the most famous weekend on the Alpine calendar, the jewel in Austria's ski racing crown, and all the excuse necessary for an almighty party. The stumbling and unsteadiness has nothing to do with the snow and ice underfoot. For many here the ski racing is entirely incidental.

But not for me. It's rapidly approaching 6pm on Saturday evening, I've got British slalom skiers Laurie Taylor and Billy Major in the car and we're stuck in traffic. This is bad. They need to be at the bib draw that sorts the start order for tomorrow's race, I've got the right pass which eases us past the police, but cuts no ice with the crowds. We proceed at stumbling pace. If I had an engine, I'd rev it.

The Audi A6 Avant e-tron is our sort of electric car. By which I mean it's not an SUV. How refreshing. It's the most aerodynamic Audi there's ever been, slipperier through the air than a ski gliding over snow. And zero emissions means we're not causing the snow to melt - a literal hot topic in these parts. So how to put it to the test?

Simple: give it the most challenging scenario a practically minded electric car will ever face. Fill it with kit (bad for range). Stick stuff on the roof (bad for range). Drive it across Germany at autobahn pace (bad for range). Go somewhere very cold (bad for range).