We were right about autonomous vehicles, but holy cow, urban areas are huge! According to Audi, it is their largest vehicle or concept to date.
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| Audi urbansphere concept 2022 |
Do you recall the aversion to capitalization in the 2021 Audi Skysphere and Grandsphere ideas? In contrast to the latter, the former was a sleek four-seat grand tourer with a mad Transformer-style roadster body. Anyway, we were promised a third and final concept along the same lines when the two earlier ones were shown off. The "urbansphere" was supposed to be a compact city car concept, as was widely anticipated. Think of a futuristic Audi A1 with self-driving technology.
The concept was created with "Chinese megacities" in mind.
It is the result of a joint effort between Audi's Crayon Studio in Beijing and
its headquarters in Ingolstadt, and it was created with "Chinese megacities"
in mind. Potential Chinese customers were consulted for their input as well.
You shouldn't get your hopes up just yet, though, because this is still very
much a concept car for the time being and a production deal hasn't even been
signed.
According to Audi, the urban environment has been "systematically
designed from the inside out" and the brand "showcases its vision of the
premium mobility of tomorrow."
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Audi urbansphere interior concept |
It only makes sense to begin with the outside. Just look at us; we're rebels.
Yet, despite Audi's claim that the concept "defies classification into
conventional vehicle categories," we can't help but see a massive MPV in the
making. This is fine with us, as the originals proved to be highly
functional.
The dimensions of the urban sphere are more than 5.5 meters
in length, 2.01 meters in width, and nearly 1.8 meters in height. The massive
3.4-meter wheelbase is another impressive feature (roughly the same length as
a whole Japanese car). Lots of glass, massive 24-inch wheels reminiscent of
the Audi Avus, and some very flashy front and rear lighting systems round out
the package. A bloated A2 comes to mind, no?
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Audi urbansphere concept 2022 |
Subsequent Audi electric vehicles will be built on the PPE platform. So, just like the Grandsphere, all four wheels are driven by a total of 395 horsepower and 509 pound-feet of torque from a 120 kWh battery and an electric motor on each axle. Audi estimates a range of 466 miles, and it is compatible with rapid 270 kW charging. What this means is that a 10-minute break can add about 186 miles to your total range.
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Audi urbansphere concept 2022 |
The car features state-of-the-art technology to help you relax in its driverless environment system.
It's a city car (though not in the conventional sense), so it has features
like rear-wheel steer and an adaptive air suspension to make it easy to
maneuver and to deal with bumps in the road.
Consequently, the core
Suicide doors that open inward swing open, and a digital red carpet rolls out
to meet you. Upon entering, the display up front is projected onto that
enormous wooden dash, and the steering wheel and pedals retract because it is
capable of Level 4 autonomous driving (of course).
In the Grand Slam,
however, the best seats are in the back. Giant armchairs can be rotated and
reclined to watch movies, and there are screens in the back of the front seats
as well as a transparent OLED cinema screen that can be lowered from the
ceiling. But even for just four people, it seems like a lot of room would be
required.
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Audi urbansphere concept 2022 |
Recycled polyamide (ECONYL) and bamboo viscose fabric (also recycled) are just
two of the many eco-friendly components of this 2022 prototype. lovely, light
hues, too.
Audi uses a facial scanning system and voice analysis to
determine if you're feeling stressed, and the company claims that urban areas
"qualify as a wellness zone." There's also a water dispenser in the middle of
the back row. When it detects that your voice is becoming strained, the car
will launch a meditation app or play relaxing music through the speakers in
the headrest.
Can I get a show of hands from those who also believe that
driving with the knowledge that the car is evaluating them would increase
their stress levels?
