This is the new Audi Grand Sphere, an electric concept car that previews a new A8-size luxury electric vehicle from Audi due to hit the market in 2025. Read on to find out all the details.
- New Audi Grand Sphere unveiled
- Preview of electric cars in A8 format
- Ultra futuristic interior
- Eye tracking infotainment technology
- 120kWh battery
- 270kW charging function
- 470 miles range
- Twin engines with 720 hp
- 0-60mph in four seconds
- Level 4 self-propelled systems
- Preview of the production car in 2025
This is the new Audi Grand Sphere – a brand new concept that’s packed with the latest in infotainment and self-driving technologies from Audi – some of which come straight from the Star Wars universe. …
This car won’t actually go into production, but it does show you what Audi’s replacement for the A8 sedan and an alternative to the Mercedes EQS might look like.
Audi Grand Sphere design
The new Grand Sphere looks amazing, doesn’t it? It’s a big, luxurious 4-door hatchback like the normal Audi A8, but somehow it manages to look even slimmer than the low-slung Audi e-tron GT.
OK, so the grille is completely fake. But can you imagine an Audi without a big, shiny mouth in front? How strange would that look? It also houses all the sensors for the car’s autonomous driving system – more on that in a moment.
At the back, the new Grand Sphere looks even wilder. The slim brake lights, the sloping roof line at the rear and the fin-like rear pillars have nothing in common with today’s A8.
Audi Grand Sphere interior
Audi has equipped the Grand Sphere with Level 4 self-driving technology. This means that it has all the sensors and clever software that it needs to drive on motorways and in heavy traffic.
But the Grand Sphere has another trick up its sleeve … it can retract the steering wheel and pedals and hide them behind the dash in autonomous mode to give you more room to stretch out.
The front doors open normally, but the back doors open, well, backwards. There’s also no pillar in the middle, so you climb in through this massive, full-width opening.
Take a close look at the side widows and you will see that each has two separate pieces of glass connected by a chrome strip. This makes it look like the car has really small, sleek windows from the outside, but the extra glass lets in more light so the interior still feels nice and airy.
Most luxury cars have a few perks for a chauffeur in the front, but they save all of the ultra-plush features for the boss who sits in the back. The Grand Sphere is a little different. After all, this car can drive itself, so you don’t need a chauffeur!
There’s even a beverage cooler in the center console and a houseplant between the front seats. Probably to balance your Feng Shui – or something …
Audi Grand Sphere infotainment
Instead of a huge screen, the Grand Sphere has built-in projectors that transform the entire wooden dashboard into a huge widescreen display. But that’s not all. You don’t control this with old-fashioned buttons or a fiddly touchpad. Oh no – you control it with your eyes. Yes, really.
It has built-in eye tracking and hand tracking, so you can control all the functions of the car without touching a single button. Kind of like Tom Cruise in Minority Report.
Even cooler is the climate control (excuse the pun.) These look like ordinary physical buttons, but are also gesture-controlled. So you just turn your hand near the button and it uses built-in motors that rotate automatically to adjust the temperature. It’s like using the power.
Range and performance of the Audi Grand Sphere
The Audi Grand Sphere comes with a massive 120 kWh battery – that’s even bigger than the huge 108 kWh battery that you get in a top-class Mercedes EQS. Audi expects the Grand Sphere to have a range of almost 470 miles – that’s about 10 miles less than the EQS can handle.
Audi has equipped the Grand Sphere with 2 electric motors. which give it all-wheel drive and produce a whopping 720 hp and a torque of 960 Nm. That is about 75 PS and 130 Nm more than in an RS e-tron GT.
As a result, it will do 0-60 mph in about 4 seconds. That’s fast enough to spill your champagne, but it’s a few tenths slower than the 571-horsepower Audi S8, which sprints from 0 to 100 mph in 3.8 seconds.
Like the Mercedes EQS, the Grand Sphere also has rear-wheel steering so that parking should be relatively easy. For a car that is over 5.3 meters long, anyway …
Charging the Audi Grand Sphere
Audi has given the Grand Sphere its latest 800 V electrical system that is compatible with public 270 kW quick chargers – just like the e-tron GT.
That means you can charge the Grand Sphere from 5% to 80% in less than 25 minutes and increase its range by nearly 190 miles in just 10 minutes.
Audi Grand Sphere price and release date
Do you want to get your hands on this car? So, put your checkbook away – you can’t buy the Audi Grand Sphere Concept just yet. However, Audi will produce a series version that will hit the market around 2025 alongside the normal gasoline, diesel and hybrid A8.
How much will this new electric car cost? Well it will be an alternative to the Mercedes EQS so it could cost about the same. If Audi opts for a two-wheel drive version, it could come at a cost of £ 80-90,000, but higher-end cars with all-wheel drive and a larger battery will likely set you back by more than £ 100,000.
Can’t wait for a new A8-sized electric car to go on sale? Check out the top 10 best electric cars or compare the latest Audi offers from carwow.
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