Audi R8 e-tron production future in doubt

Newly appointed Audi R&D boss Wolfgang Dürheimer is making his mark by calling a halt to the development of the R8 e-tron. It’s being reported the prohibitive cost of batteries is one of the major factors forcing Audi’s hand. Limited range is another.

There is a review of the R8 e-tron’s production future underway and and while the current cessation is deemed temporary there is a danger the R8 e-tron will be assigned to the scrap heap before it even hits the road.

For a project that promised so much in Frankfurt 2009, its crowning glory could be little more than a brief moment in the sun at the Nürburgring. In June Markus Winkelhock set an impressive 8:09 laptime around the Ring, which Audi claimed as a record for a production-based electric vehicle.

We’d like to hope that was just the start of the story, but that now appears to be in real doubt.

[Source: Car and Driver]