The E-Future is coming, but cautiously, especially if one sees that it has been already for many years around us, as this dashboard of the Lohner Porsche shows, which was to be seen on the latest IAA Frankfurt show...

One did not only see it in the enormous stands on the show, you could also enjoy it in the shuttle cars: the E-future is coming. Silently, and also rather slowly. As everybody knows, the main problem is simply battery power and stamina. Not enough power, not enough range is to be had, for the time being, with full electric vehicles. Small two or three-seater “E-city” cars will be a feasible and practical solution for the near future, so the marketeers hope. Well, we haven’t driven one of these two-seaters yet…

The Audi A1 e-tron drove through the dramatically styled Audi building on the IAA show...

But there are useable (semi) electric city cars in the making, like the Audi A2 and the Audi e-tron range. With a wankel engine in the back, for example in the A1 e-tron, or a combustion engine in the front, like the Ampera.

Otherwise, the show is still very much about ‘classic’ (hybrid)fuel-driven cars, with smaller cars coming very much in the spotlight, like the new VW UP! and the Fiat Panda.

The new UP! looks very good on the road, as we photographed it here standing on the walkways between the IAA pavillions...

But also the truly good looking Beetle, and interesting cars like the Mercedes B-class will attract many buyers.

And then there are of course the cars which gets your (and our) harts pounding faster. Like the new Porsche, the Mercedes AMG, and the Bentley Continental, to name but a few. You will read about them in the following sections of ourFrankfurt report… for the time being, we hope you enjoy this first one!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Good looking Volkswagens…

We started our IAA tour with a visit to the immense VW pavilion, where we could see the new VW beetle « in the flesh » for the first time.

Quite frankly, we were very pleased with the result. We stood eye to eye with a very charming  « Fender » version, complete with wood imitation dashboard and a « period » radio speaker in the middle, with an interconnectivity (audio) device sitting on top of it.

The Beetle looks very good from any angle, and in our eyes it will certainly be a hit for many years to come.

We found the new UP! equally impressive, and we show you here a « street » shot of the car, as it was displayed on the show grounds between the pavilions. This will also be a car with a great future, VW having gone to great length to make the car lighter without resorting to expensive materials, thus keeping the price of the car below 10.000 Euro.

Coming out of the VW hall, we could only but admire the fluent lines and style of the Audi pavilion, which really stands out and emphazises very well the standing of Audi as a leading premium marque.

Even on the press day, crowds were literally pouring into the building, and the Audi Belgium PR people were so clever to remain near the entrance of the Audi palace, so we could meet easily.

The electric future was... literally driving around in the pavilion, as the Audi building contains a proper road within its walls, and the e-tron A1 and A3 and last but not least the R8 e-tron were driving around the inside track. Of course we attended the Audi press conference, where the A2 concept and the Urban concept (see photo below) two-seater were celebrating their world  premiere.

We will come back on this A2 concept car, which is a harbinger of future things to come, like increased interconnectivity of modern cars, and indeed, electric driving in the (mega)cities of the future. We show you some photos of the A2 concept car at its presentation on the IAA, by Audi chairman Rupert Stadler.

The show car has indeed all of the Audi connect technologies on board. The Bluetooth online car phone connects it to the Internet via a UTMS module, a WLAN hotspot lets the passengers surf and e-mail from their mobile devices.

The fast data connection delivers specially prepared news and information to the car. The services currently offered by Audi are available for navigation: the map with images from Google Earth, Audi traffic information online, Google POI search via voice control and Google Street View.

The futuristic steering wheel of the A2 Concept...

Drive by wire…

Besides the connect(ive) technologies, the car also offers an innovative body concept – a further development of Audi’s ultra-lightweight construction – limiting its weight to just 1,150 kilograms (2,535.32 lb).

Also its steering and brakes are purely electric (by-wire) systems. But more on this car soon in a separate report…

The Audi Urban Concept…

The cabin of the Audi Urban Concept... a luxurious two-seater indeed.

The Audi urban concept technology study is a 1+1 electric powered show car  for urban and metropolitan areas. Weighing just 480 kilograms (1,058.22 lb), the Audi urban concept concentrates on the pure essence of driving and conveys freedom at the premium level. At the same time, it offers the comfort and safety of a closed automobile, making it far superior to any motor scooter..

The cabin of the Audi urban concept offers slightly offset seating for two. The roof slides back for entry. We show you here a photo, but we certainly come back with a separate report of this car.

See you soon for the next part of our IAA report...  

Hans Knol ten Bensel