Audi has turned a classic automotive from considered one of its predecessors right into a speedy EV idea.
Revealed Saturday, the idea updates and electrifies an NSU Prinz 4, which entered manufacturing in 1961. Dubbed EP4 (Electrical Prinz 4), the mission was undertaken by apprentices at Audi’s plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, to mark 150 years of producing on the web site.
Audi did not exist 150 years in the past, however NSU began manufacturing stitching machines on the web site, later shifting on to bicycles and bikes. Automobile manufacturing began in 1905. NSU might be greatest identified in fashionable automotive historical past for creating the Wankel rotary engine, which Mazda later took and popularized. It is as a consequence of stay on within the MX-30 R-EV as a small vary extender.
Audi EP4 idea based mostly on the NSU Prinz 4
NSU was was acquired by the Volkswagen group within the later Nineteen Sixties and merged with fellow VW Group property Auto Union. The merged entity later turned Audi, retaining the Auto Union four-ring emblem. A earlier incarnation of Audi was one of many 4 manufacturers that fashioned Auto Union.
The Prinz 4 was manufactured till 1973, making it one of many closing NSU-branded autos. The EP4 idea will increase energy considerably, from 30 hp to to 236 hp, by changing the inventory air-cooled, rear-mounted 2-cylinder engine with the electrical motor from an E-Tron SUV (now Q8 E-Tron). The battery pack comes from a plug-in hybrid variant of the Q7 offered abroad, and sits the place the gasoline tank would usually be positioned.
The physique of the Prinz 4 sits on a modified Audi A1 floorpan, with fashionable brakes and axles to deal with the added energy. The inside acquired customized devices and shows, with 3D printing employed for lots of the one-off components.
Audi EP4 idea based mostly on the NSU Prinz 4
The EP4 is a one-off electrical restomod, nevertheless it serves as a great thought train for the way compact automobiles may go electrical in a extra thrilling approach, with out getting a lot taller. Altogether, even with the added weight of the battery it is more likely to be extraordinarily quick-accelerating; Audi hasn’t but revealed any stopwatch outcomes.
Audi was creating a smaller, totally electrical A2 metropolis automotive a decade in the past, nevertheless it canned that mission, and since then the model has centered its growth efforts primarily upmarket. That features the Premium Platform Electrical (PPE) set to debut in an electrical model of the Porsche Macan.
Within the meantime, the smallest electrical Audi for the U.S. is the This fall E-Tron, a mannequin that prioritizes practicality and is priced decrease than different premium EVs its dimension.
