The Audi Skysphere was developed with one goal: to envision an automotive future where the car becomes an interactive space and experience device…
While many cars claim to be multi-purpose, they never truly are. Performance SUVs have tried, but even with all that extra power – they’re still stuck with that un-aerodynamic bulky SUV body.
Audi thinks it may have found a better solution, with their new convertible electric car concept – which they claim can be made longer or shorter at the push of a button.
Called the Skysphere, the concept is designed to be both a sports car to be driven by the hands on the steering wheel method, and also a luxurious grand tourer with autonomous driving capabilities.
Visually it references the company’s Horch 853 roadster from the 1930s with its long bonnet and small cabin. But underneath – it’s full Transformer. It is literally able to change the length of its body by 250 mm – part of the car’s two modes.
In Sports mode, the car is pure hunter, measures 4.94 metres long, drops 10 mm in ride height, and gets rear-wheel-steering for maximum cornering prowess.
In Grand Touring mode, the electric motors increase the wheelbase length to 5.19 metres, and move the steering wheel and pedals into an invisible area to free up interior space. The screen moves and angles towards the driver, while the suspension and throttle response sharpen up.
In Audi-speak, this is the equivalent of switching from an RS5 to an A8L, and the end result is a driver-focused roadster.
Opting out of Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive system, there are double wishbones front and rear, and the air suspension uses sat nav input to make the ride super cushy.
Powered by a single electric motor which generates 465kW of power and 750Nm of torque, Audi claims that’s enough kick to propel this 1800 kg land yacht to 100km/h in 4.0 seconds.
So will the Skysphere be produced in the near future? Is it an Autobot or a Decepticon?
By Bill Varetimidis
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