Schaeffler Turns An Audi RS3 Into A 1180 bhp Electric Concept Car

Schaeffler, one of the major sponsors of the Audi Sport ABT team in Formula E, has recently revealed its new electric performance sedan concept. Dubbed as the "Schaeffler 4ePerformance", the fully-electric concept vehicle is essentially an Audi RS3, in which, the company was able to fit four Formula E motors from its ABT Schaeffler FE01 Formula E racing car. Each one of these motors offer an output of over 295 bhp, taking the combined power output of the car tad north of a whopping 1,180 bhp, while the motor generated peak torque is 320Nm. The concept car accelerates from 0 to 200 kmph in less than 7 seconds.

Schaeffler 4ePerformance Electric Car Concept uses 4 Formula E electric motors

In addition to the monstrous power and quick acceleration, the car has also been designed to offer sharp handling around the circuit, courtesy of its Formula E technology. Each one of those four motors is directly connected to a wheel via a spur gear unit with one gearbox housing on each axle controlling two motors thus creating an electric twin axle setup. This architecture offers selective control of drive torque to individual wheels (torque vectoring) and the power required for this is provided by two batteries with an overall capacity of 64 kWh.

Schaeffler 4eperformance offers a total power output of 1180 bhp

Commenting on the Schaeffler 4ePerformance, Simon Opel, Director of Special Projects Motorsports, Schaeffler Group said, "For Schaeffler, this vehicle is a test laboratory on wheels thanks to its free scaling options for the drive power. We are currently testing and developing our own driving dynamics control system, which is based on physical vehicle and wheel modelling. We have been learning a lot especially in the area of software-based driving dynamics control systems".

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Schaeffler says that the electric racing series is an ideal test field for the development of electric mobility technologies and perfectly suits the company's corporate strategy "Mobility for tomorrow". The company says that experts from Schaeffler Motorsports, the Schaeffler E-Mobility business, and the company's engineering subsidiaries worked together with ABT Sportsline's to build the new performance electric vehicle. Schaeffler says that the 4ePerformance could be a supplement to volume-production drive concepts for electric high-performance sports cars.