It's Not About The Car

What a metaphor, launching an electric vehicle in the oil-obsessed United Arab Emirates. If Audi’s E-tron can succeed here, it can succeed anywhere. That’s the plan, at least.

PURGATORY. That’s not where we are but it’s an accurate description of the South African electric-vehicle landscape right now. Everywhere, manufacturers of next-generation zero-emissions vehicles are investing billions. As far as infrastructure goes, however, there is no “roadmap” for implementation in South Africa. Just like Dante’s poem of the same title, “Purgatory shall produce a patient and humble soul resigned to divine will.” That’s us, waiting for someone – government; OEMs; private sector; a partnership of all three? – to plug us in and make EVs feasible.

This lofty thought is put on hold as the world’s media gathers for the first drive of the all-electric Audi E-tron. Our start point is Masdar City, which functions completely off the grid and has ready-built chargers for an EV’s all-important power fix.

At first glance, the E-tron is conservatively styled, like a cross between an A6 Allroad and a Q7. Then you consider Marc Lichte’s nuanced design; subtle in places and edgy in others, it makes a concerted effort to honour existing forms while underlining futuristic detail and incorporating sophisticated aerodynamics. The emphasis of sharp lines and triangular shapes, such as the flow-optimised wheels, LED daytime running lights and wraparound taillamps, are obvious enough, but it’s the prominent cladding between the front and rear wheels which highlight it as an EV. That’s where the batteries live.