@Scaramanga: Uhh, no. "current replacement cost of the ESS is slightly under USD$36,000". So Li-ion is already below $670/kWh.

The Audi étron's battery pack is the same 53 kWh capacity and almost the same weight (470kg vs 450 kg) as the Tesla Roadster. Yet despite 15 times the torque and greater power (230 kW vs 185) it's limited to the same top speed, it's slower 0-60 and has worse range. It has quattro through four separate motors, but it…

Does the concept car move under its own power? If so, please steal it.

@Never say maybe: Why engineer a replacement for production when you can make bigger profits on 5x more expensive limited editions, for which you simply make an extra 24 copies of the custom part you were going to put on your concept car anyway?

@Pessimipposaurus: But later: "A vibrant keening in the veins... do I meet your wildest dreams?"

Bizarre utter fail to take advantage of the powertrain. The electric motor doesn't have air intakes, so Audi gets rid of the side blades. But they keep enormous air ducts at the front (maybe the front wheels still have disc brakes). But they also keep the bluff un-aerodynamic horse-collar Audi family grille, except…

"with over 900 years of motorbike-building prowess behind them"

@jedchev: Ooh, you're such a drama queen. One would expect the most economical and least-polluting new car on the road (besides a Tesla Roadster) to be a tiny two-seater like the Smart fortwo or a rolling plastic experiment, and then indeed committed environmentalists would be the main customers. Instead, it's a…

@nicholasrandallas: Those side slits are legitimate Mercedes heritage, they're on the original 300SL gullwing and reappear on the current SL. I think these look better than the McLaren SLR's slits.

@Jones Foyer: Plug-in numbers aren't a cheat, if your driving is all-electric mode they really are dirt cheap to run and produce less emissions overall. But MPG equivalent, cost per km, and CO2 numbers are stupid for all-electric mode. The testable figures are how many kWh it takes to go 10 miles and the…

So "The Queen in Right of Canada and Ontario" owns a big chunk of GM and Chrysis. Did she get an Aspen to replace the Land Rover at Balmoral? Does Her Royal Highness go to executive meetings? "We are not amused by the Sebring door trim. Off with Jim Press's head!"

So a 600 bhp mid-engined twin-turbo V8 is as unrecognizably generic as yet-another-SUV!! Malaise Era II or a golden age of dozens of interchangeable supercars?

@anderlan:

@theart: Tesla has made well over 500 Roadsters. That's more than any of Lotus' own expensive Elise variants. Lotus probably makes about 5x as many base Elise cars, but it's a much cheaper car without the carbon fiber panels (or 6,831 batteries :-) ).

@ccc40821: the combustion engine is only there to charge the batteries

@wojo-the newly visible man-ardi: awesome comment, great job!:

I saw it at SFMOMA, it's OK. Eliasson is making you feel extreme sensations and think about them a little. The car is just an excuse to put you in a very chilly room. It's hard to make out the car under that cocoon, let alone its mechanicals. His pieces playing with light and water are a lot better.

@gas_pig70: Why can't American consumers buy any (?) Audi with their start-stop system? Audi, BMW, Smart and many others are rolling out "engine stops at a standstill" and mild regenerative braking across all their cars in Europe, but as far as I know, none of their USA cars have it. Does it not increase MPG in…

@Zuzax: If they had used the old chunky lego baseplates as struts within each hollow block, and then offset each hollow block, the house could have been self-supporting. I don't see how you'd do a roof of Lego.