GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Audi R8 e-tron 2.0

Audi has gone back to the future to give a new lease of life to its all-electric R8 e-tron sports car, first images of which have now been released on the eve of its Geneva motor show debut.

As revealed last week, battery developments have enabled the R8 e-tron 2.0 to more than double its driving range compared to the first-generation version it first showed in 2009, and the car is set for limited production this year.

Designed in to the model cycle of the second-generation R8 from the first sketches, the R8 e-tron 2.0 can now eke out 450km of electric range -- up from the first generation’s paltry 215km.

That won’t stop it being quick though, with Audi still claiming a 0-100km/h acceleration figure of 3.9 seconds, to trail home the new R8 V10 by just 0.4 seconds.

Audi claims the electric powertrain helps the handling, with front and rear electric motors, but no mechanical link between them. There is an electromechanical braking system to give it high recuperation rates, and there is targeted torque vectoring to help with traction and drive.

It has been limited to a 210km/h top speed (with an optional lift to 250km/h) though, in an effort to preserve battery life.

The new lithium-ion battery is, unlike its predecessor, specifically designed for automotive use and sits in a T shape in the centre tunnel and behind the seats.

The high-voltage unit has grown from 49 to 92kWh, all without changing the size of its exterior packaging. Its energy density has grown from 84 to 154Wh/kg, and it has all happened in just five years.

It also uses a Combined Charging System to let it charge on either direct or alternating current and can be recharged in “significantly” less than two hours.

Audi claims the R8 e-tron 2.0 is still a rolling high-tech laboratory (the same claim it made in 2009), and that findings from its life cycle will help create an all-electric large sedan.

Yet it also says the R8 e-tron 2.0 will be “available for order” late in 2015.