- The facelifted Audi A3 plug-in hybrid will get a bigger battery and two energy variants.
- They each have a WLTP electrical vary of 88 miles or greater than many early EVs.
Audi has facelifted the A3 hatchback, and the plug-in hybrid model, which now incorporates a bigger battery, has rather more vary than earlier than. It might additionally DC quick cost and its electrical motor has sufficient oomph to make electrical driving really feel fast and it doesn’t want to start out up its combustion engine even for freeway driving.
The massive information with the revised A3 Sportback PHEV is its new 25.7-kilowatt-hour battery with a usable capability of 19.7 kWh. The elevated capability comes from optimized cell chemistry and improved packaging, which has elevated the pack from 37 to 73 amps.
This new battery provides the A3 PHEV a outstanding WLTP electrical vary of 88 miles (143 kilometers), making it one in every of the longest-range PHEVs at present accessible. That is additionally about the identical vary as the unique Nissan Leaf or the Ford Focus Electrical earlier than these autos obtained larger batteries. They had been each rated at beneath 80 miles after they debuted, which when factoring within the distinction between the EPA and WLTP check cycles, places the Audi very shut.
The A3 PHEV can drive on electrical energy alone at a velocity of as much as 87 mph (140 km/h), and between this and its spectacular battery vary, it ought to enable most drivers to do their every day commute with out having to start out up the engine.
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The A3 is likely one of the few plug-in hybrids in the marketplace that may DC quick cost. It has a most charging energy of fifty kW, which Audi says is sufficient to do the ten to 80% slog in beneath half-hour. Utilizing its 11 kW onboard charger to cost from flat to full takes 2.5 hours.
The A3 PHEV now is available in two flavors: the 40 TFSIe and the 45 TFSIe. The previous has a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that along with the electrical motor positioned within the gearbox makes 201 horsepower and 258 pound-feet (350 Nm) of torque. The latter has the identical gasoline engine however in a better state of tune, bringing the full system output to 268 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque.
This enables the faster variant to dash from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.3 seconds and high out at 147 mph (237 km/h). The electrical motor makes the identical 114 hp in each variations, so accelerating beneath electrical energy alone might be precisely the identical, and it ought to really feel fairly nippy with that a lot instantaneous energy on faucet.
Audi at present presents the A3 sedan within the U.S. however not the hatchback or any plug-in hybrid energy. Had Audi supplied it right here, its solely actual rival (that’s an precise hatchback and never a crossover) would have been the Toyota Prius Prime, which has a smaller 13.6 kWh battery and significantly much less electrical vary (as much as 44 miles EPA and 53.4 miles WLTP).
Given the Prius Prime’s relative success within the States, the choice by Audi and different European producers to not convey their smaller PHEVs right here is considerably perplexing—they might most likely do very effectively. There seems to be renewed curiosity in PHEVs from American automotive consumers, and the elevated demand is even driving PHEV costs up.
