The legendary Audi Quattro is coming back – but this time it’s ELECTRIC

I MIGHT not have the detective skills of DCI Gene Hunt. Or his car.

But I’ve done some digging and I reckon the Audi Quattro is to return as an EV. I repeat, Audi Quattro.

AUDI AG

Kudos

Philip Glenister as DCI Gene Hunt with his Quattro in the BBC’s production of Ashes to Ashes[/caption]

Matt Vosper

The most famous Audi of the lot — an absolute legend of Group B rallying in the Eighties — reinvented as an electric off-roader.

Let’s consider the evidence.

This teaser photo (main image) clearly shows an A7-sized coupe with chunky tyres and protective cladding.

We’ll see the car in daylight early next year.

We also know Audi has a 710hp power unit ready to go: Two e-motors, one on each axle for quattro all-wheel drive, hooked up to a next-gen 120kWh battery pack.

Expect 0-62mph in four point something seconds.

You don’t need that kind of performance in a regular workaday Audi.

I’m even more convinced it’s a full-blown Quattro after putting my theory to designer Gael Buzyn.

He said: “Let’s see. What I can tell you is, it is my favourite creation.

“I say this about every new creation we do at our Malibu studio but this one is really, really cool.

“It’s no secret when you see the teaser that there is a lot of Quattro in that car.” Excellent.

To misquote DCI Hunt: “Let’s precondition the Quattro.”

Audi has revealed four electric concept cars in the past year — Skysphere, Grandsphere, Urbansphere and Activesphere.

Skysphere looks mega but is pure fantasyland.

Mostly because the two-seat roadster has a body that stretches 25cm for maximum comfort in autonomous mode.

As I said, fantasyland.

Grandsphere is real.

Next-level luxury and tech combined with a 466-mile range.

Urbansphere is also real, an XXL-sized MPV for China from 2028 that is also being considered for places like the US.

All three concepts were seen together for the first time at Pebble Beach golf club, as part of the super-flash Monterey Car Week in California.

Then we have Activesphere, the new Quattro.

I can’t tell you much about the interior except to say it will have seats and possibly even a steering wheel.

Designers do let their imaginations run wild with the inside of concept cars.

But the silhouette of the car is bang on.

An Audi insider told me: “It has Quattro visualisation and interpretation.

“Put it in an Audi showroom and people will ask for the price tag.”

Case closed.

It would be criminal to let us down now.

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Skysphere

WHAT IS IT? Two-seat electric roadster.

REAL OR FANTASY? Fantasy.

The body s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s 25cm in self-driving mode and the steering wheel folds away. Didn’t stop a lot of rich people trying to buy it.

Grandsphere

WHAT IS IT? Executive limo.

REAL OR FANTASY? Real.

Teases the 2025 pure electric A8. Next-level tech. Just add proper doors and a steering wheel. Also expect a seven-seat Q9 SUV.

Urbansphere

WHAT IS IT? XXL-sized MPV.

REAL OR FANTASY? Real

Originally a design study for Chinese megacities of the future but now set for production from 2028. It’s a whopping 18ft (5.5m) long and has a flip-down cinema screen.

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Built for sliding sideways

THIS is YouTube legend Ken Block’s new ride.

Three Formula E motors punching out 1,500hp. Mad aero. Carbon-fibre chassis. Hydraulic handbrake. Built for sliding sideways and eating tyres.

Not known, clear with picture desk

Audi’s new Hoonitron[/caption]

Not known, clear with picture desk

We had our first real look at Hoonitron at Laguna Seca race track[/caption]

Block shut down Las Vegas to film his first Elektrikhana drift video in the pure- electric Audi S1 Hoonitron.

One clip sees him doing donuts in the middle of a packed casino.

We’ll see the full edit soon.

Block said: “There were a lot of new things for me to learn. Like spinning into a donut at 90mph directly from a standstill.”

We had our first real look at Hoonitron – inspired by the legendary Pikes Peak Quattro from the Eighties – at Laguna Seca race track.

It looks a bit of a handful.