Cool crossover

As a coupe that is as elegant as it is dynamic, it features classic proportions and lines, but in just a few seconds, the car transforms into a pickup for transporting top-class sports gear – there’s even enough space for two e-bikes in the cargo bed.

The concept car was conceived and designed at the Audi Design Studio in Malibu, just a stone’s throw away from the Pacific Coast Highway, the legendary coastal road.

Studio manager Gael Buzyn and his team are the creative minds behind the project. He describes the idea behind the project as follows.

“The activesphere is unique. It is a new type of crossover that cleverly combines the elegance of an Audi Sportback, the practicality of a SUV and true offroad capabilities.”

With an electric drive and quick-charging technology from Audi’s PPE modular system, the Audi activesphere joins the sphere family of concept vehicles. With no local emissions, a range of over 600 km, and extremely fast charging times thanks to 800-volt technology, it combines the sustainability, dynamics and long-distance capability of state-of-the-art electric vehicles.

Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development: “The sphere concept vehicles show our vision for the premium mobility of the future. We are experiencing a paradigm shift, especially in the interior of our future Audi models.

“The interior becomes a place where the passengers feel at home and can connect to the world outside at the same time. The most important technical innovation in the Audi activesphere is our adaptation of augmented reality for mobility. Audi dimensions creates the perfect synthesis between the surroundings and digital reality.”

The autonomous chauffeuring capability on suitable terrain gives drivers and passengers a new level of freedom, which, thanks to the new display and operating technology, can be used in the activesphere in a variety of ways. The innovative operating concept, Audi dimensions, combines the physical and virtual worlds (i.e., mixed reality) by displaying digital content in the occupants’ fields of vision in real-time.

High-tech headsets provide a view of the real environment and the route, while simultaneously displaying 3D content and interactive elements– individually configurable for drivers and passengers.

This means all driver-relevant information, such as driving status and navigation, can be displayed. And in the interior, headset users can see control panels and other virtual displays in a tidy, minimalist design that remains hidden to the unaided eye.

Mixed reality optics gives users the ability to interact precisely with these real, yet invisible, touch-sensitive zones, as the headsets display and carry out functions by reacting in real time when users touch them.

As a perfect all-rounder, the Audi activesphere concept is ideally suited for the high demands of a future-oriented generation of Audi customers – people for whom individual mobility and sustainability are not mutually exclusive.

Also, owners who expect their vehicle to deliver the brand’s typical aesthetics and dynamism in the highest degree, combined with future-oriented technology. For these customers, the Audi activesphere concept acts as a fascinating vision of crossing the boundaries between these dimensions.

PPE – customised drive technology

Due to its dimensions and performance level, the Audi activesphere concept lends itself to the use of Audi’s most innovative electric drive system: the Premium Platform Electric, or PPE for short.

Like the related Audi grandsphere and Audi urbansphere concept cars, the activesphere concept draws on this modular system for series production. It is being developed under Audi’s leadership together with Porsche AG – the first Audi production vehicles based on PPE will be presented, one after the other, before the end of 2023.

The PPE is designed exclusively for battery-electric drive systems and can therefore take full advantage of all the benefits of this technology – for the betterment of the cars’ driving characteristics, economy, and package options.

As a result, Audi can effectively expand the range of electric vehicles in its portfolio via the high-volume B- and C-segments. In addition, economies of scale will allow luxury-class technology and various different model versions to be incorporated into a wide-ranging lineup of models unrivaled in the premium market.

The PPE is the first platform designed to accommodate an unprecedented range of high-volume automobiles – including SUVs and CUVs with high ground clearance as well as cars with a flat silhouette that are part of Audi’s core product range, such as the Audi A6 series, whose external dimensions and wheelbase are almost identical to the Audi activesphere concept.

The key element of the future PPE fleet is a battery module between the axles; in the Audi activesphere concept, it holds around 100 kWh of energy. Using the entire car width between the axles makes it possible to achieve a relatively flat layout for the battery.

Electric motors on the front and rear axles of the all-wheel drive Audi activesphere concept together deliver a total output of 325 kW and a system torque of 720 Newton meters. The front and rear wheels are connected via a five-link axle. The concept car features Audi adaptive air suspension with adaptive dampers.

Fast charging with 800 volts

The heart of the drive technology in all future PPE models will be the 800-volt charging technology. This ensures that the battery, like the one in the Audi e-tron GT quattro1 before it, can be charged with up to 270 kW in a very short time at fast-charging stations. This revolutionary technology will enter the high-volume mid-range and luxury segments with the PPE for the very first time.

The PPE technology enables charging times that come close to a conventional refueling stop for a combustion engine car. Just 10 minutes is sufficient time to take enough energy on board to power the car for more than 300 kilometers.

And in less than 25 minutes, the 100 kWh battery charges from 5 to 80 percent. Together with its range of well over 600 kilometers, the Audi activesphere thus positions itself as unconditionally suitable for long distances, when need be.

audi.com.au