If you had any doubts Audi has transformed into a crossover company that also sells cars, you can put those to rest as the automaker has teased an extreme model which will compete in the 2022 Dakar Rally. Billed as an “innovative prototype,” the unnamed model will have an electric powertrain with a high-voltage battery pack. The vehicle will also be equipped with a “highly-efficient energy converter.”
The company was tight-lipped on specifics,
but confirmed the energy converter is a TFSI engine that acts as a generator to
recharge the vehicle while driving. That means the model is a range-extended
electric vehicle similar to the BMW i3 REx.
That’s where the similarities end as the
teaser image shows the Dakar racer will have slender headlights and an
illuminated grille. We can also see a rakish windscreen, a coupe-like
greenhouse and massive off-road tires.
While it sounds odd that Audi will be
competing in the Dakar Rally, the company described it as “one of the greatest
challenges in motorsport” and said their experience will be “incorporated into
the further development of future electrified production models.”
