Audi CEO Gernot Döllner talked to Top Gear and gave more information about the company’s future electric sports car. Concept C is very close to the production car, which will perform somewhere between the old TT and the R8. Döllner mentioned that the sports car might have simulated gearshifts to make driving more fun. Audi showed off the sleek Concept C last week. It featured a new design language, characterized by small LED headlights and a rectangular grille oriented vertically. The Concept C is more than just a design idea for the brand, though. It will be built in the next few years as an indirect electric replacement for the TT racing car. Audi’s CEO, Gernot Döllner, talked to Top Gear and gave them new information about the company’s next speed electric vehicle. Döllner told Top Gear, “While I’m at Audi, I will only show concept cars that have been decided to be made.” This means that the concept is about 90% the same as the real thing. He made it clear that the production model will not bear the TT mark and that the company plans to have it ready by 2027. He confirmed, “It’s pretty much right in the middle between the TT and the R8.” He also said that the Concept C name is just a placeholder. “To be honest, it could start with an R or be a name,” he said. “Sometimes it’s easier to develop a car than find a name for it,” Döllner says that the Audi concept car that was shown off before the IAA show in Munich is fully functional and can be driven on public roads. Electric sports cars have struggled to capture people’s attention because none of the production models feature manual transmissions, and car enthusiasts are accustomed to the noise and vibration of internal combustion engines. Sporty electric vehicles (EVs) like the Rimac Nevera have struggled to find buyers, despite boasting impressive performance numbers. To make the Concept C more fun to drive, Audi is going to do what Hyundai did and create a virtual transmission with simulated shifts that make the car drive more like a regular gas-powered car. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N has engine sounds that are piped in and match the behavior of the drivetrain. The sounds can be “shifted” using paddle shifters behind the steering wheel and can also bounce off a simulated redline. “We found that a virtual gearbox and sound really add something to driving an electric car,” he said. Drivers can feel more confident while driving when they hear fake engine noises and see fake gear shifts. These extra clues help them understand how the vehicle is acting. He said, “Even on the racetrack, I’m faster with a car with a virtual gearbox.” He thinks this will help him drive faster. Döllner said that Audi is working on a virtual “gearbox” and is “quite open to finding innovative solutions in this area.” On the other hand, this technology has not yet been fully tested for the production version of Concept C. Döllner also said that fake engine noises might be possible and that the RS3’s soon-to-be-retired five-cylinder engine might “come back virtually.” We’re really interested in the production-spec sports car, even though we won’t be able to drive it for a few years.
