Full charge ahead as car tuners discover electric drive

By dpa | 26 September 2019


Lamborghini Sian FKP 37.


FRANKFURT: Car tuning outfits understand the need for a more environmentally friendly speed and now many have started hybridising their go-faster products by mating an electric motor to a conventional combustion engine in a bid to create a greener mix.

The combination provides impressive acceleration and low fuel consumption at the same time, something which will not work so well with stand-alone petrol or diesel engines.

Leading tuners like Mercedes-Benz's performance unit AMG, the M department of BMW and over at Audi Sport see the tide turning. They realise that a return to the petrol-head heyday is no longer possible.

"We are charging ahead and electrifying the whole range step by step," said Oliver Hoffmann. He is one of two new men who head Audi Sport and he has just got back from the Frankfurt Car exhibition where the 600-horsepower petrol-electric RS7 was among the show-stealers.

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The Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 relies on electric power alongside the traditional engine.


Car analyst Jan Burgard from Berylls in Munich said firms like AMG are needed in order to make a brand more emotional and exciting. This also boosts the image of the sensible, everyday models in the range which appeal to the head rather than the heart.

The cost of developing these high tech products is high but the benefits to carmakers are manifold. The greenness of top models pushes down tailpipe emissions of the whole range. Buyers are also willing to pay more for the conscience-soothers enabling costs to be recouped more quickly.

The RS7 from Audi features an electric motor that helps power the car away from the kerb before the petrol engine takes over. The e-motor also kicks in during acceleration, which pushes down everyday fuel consumption, even though the car is incapable of moving using electric power alone.

Hoffman believes cars like this mark the start of a move towards electric performance motoring.

The Audi uses what engineers call mild hybrid technology where a combustion engine provides the grunt and an electric motor assists.

Audi is fettling an all-electric sports car to rival the recently-unveiled Porsche Taycan. The E-Tron GT will share a lot of technology with the Porsche - both firms are part of the huge Volkswagen empire. Meanwhile an electric successor to the R8 is also being mulled.

Audi RS7.
Audi RS7.


"We are currently giving a lot of thought to our next-generation super sports cars and electrification is playing a major role here," said Hoffman.

BMW's M division plans to install some heavy-duty power cables into its M8 sports car. At the moment the racer only uses electricity to drive compact motors that adjust the seats, wing mirrors and side windows. The car needs petrol before the 625 horses can spring into life.

At the Frankfurt IAA show, BMW showcased its Vision M Next concept car which bears more than a passing resemblance to the legendary M1 track racer and showcases what future sports machinery may look like.

The concept uses a plug-in package made up of a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and an electric motor at each axle. The set-up provides 600 horsepower and a pure electric range of around 100 kilometres.

Of course it is still a design study yet M division boss Markus Flasch is convinced that here lies the way ahead. "We are working intensively on electrifying future M models and also seeking hybrid solutions which will boost efficiency and driving dynamics for our clients," he said.

Over at AMG his colleague Tobias Moers sees things much the same way. Models will get an electric makeover, as evidenced by the new GLE, which has an electric starter-generator on board. Moers said recently that the entire sporting range will get an electric boost.

Sports car makers such as McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Ferrari are gradually going electric too. The Ferrari SF90 Stradale PHEV for instance uses three small electric motors which whisk the car ahead before a V8 petrol engine takes over.

Purists can rest assured, however, that pedal-to-the floor combustion engines are not on the way out, despite their dirty image. Porsche boss Oliver Blume recently remarked that despite the advent of the electric Taycan, Porsche will always offer high-performance petrol motors in cars like the iconic 911.

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