- Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams is featured driving the electric Audi e-tron SUV in Audi’s 2020 Super Bowl commercial.
- The Audi e-tron is EPA rated at 204 miles of driving range, though we achieved a range of 190 miles in Car and Driver testing.
- The 2020 Audi e-tron starts at $75,795 for the Premium Plus model and $80,095 for the Prestige model; we expect that the Sportback model will start at $81,000.
Audi’s Super Bowl commercial features Game of Thrones ice-zombie-killing hero Arya Stark (actress Maisie Williams) singing “Let it Go” from the movie Frozen while driving an Audi e-tron SUV. It’s sensory overload. But instead of being dominated by the song from the popular animated film and a bunch of agitated drivers, we think the ad should have prioritized making it clear that the two Audi SUVs featured were fully electric by highlighting the fake EV sound the e-tron makes. We say this because some people might not know that Audi even offers an electric car, and the automaker might have missed out on an opportunity to educate the public.
Yes, there were hints that the Audi in the commercial is electric, but they weren’t that clear. There’s a brief shot showing e-tron’s charging port closing, the obnoxious, gas-guzzling beaters stuck in traffic, and a quick shot of a gas station closing sign that could alert viewers that the electric era is coming. The clearest sign that says “Hey, this is an electric car” is the on-screen text at the end that reads “the fully electric e-tron models from Audi.” But who reads that anyway?
Electric cars make very little noise on the outside compared to internal-combustion-engined cars. And the commercial utilizes silence when Maisie Williams starts singing “Let it Go” and the sound of traffic abruptly stops, but that’s not the best way it could’ve been done. The sound the e-tron makes is distinctive. It sounds like a spaceship, and we think Audi should have focused on this sound when Maisie jumped in the car and started driving.
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The e-tron has a 95.3-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that powers two electric motors located in the front and rear of the car. It’s EPA rated at 204 miles of driving range, though when we tested one, we achieved a 190-mile range and 65 MPGe. And the e-tron’s weight (it weighed more than our long-term Ram 1500 pickup) is certainly a factor in the e-tron’s not very impressive driving range. For 2020 cars, though, Audi is updating the powertrain to access more of the battery and slightly increase its range.
Audi’s “e-tron” moniker is used for its fully electric vehicles. The e-tron Sportback featured here will arrive for European buyers next summer, and it’ll arrive in the U.S. later. It’s essentially the coupe version of the e-tron SUV that’s already available. There are also future Audi EVs coming, including the e-tron GT sedan and the Q4 e-tron SUV. The 2020 Audi e-tron starts at $75,795 for the Premium Plus model and $80,095 for the Prestige model; we expect that the Sportback model will start at around $81,00 when it eventually arrives in the U.S.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
