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Audi Skysphere 2023.

The future of Audi: the brand has shown a concept of a two-seat roadster Skysphere with a sliding body.

The German company has equipped the show car with an expandable wheelbase: elements of the front of the car are able to move forward, which makes the distance between the axles 250 mm more.

Audi is a part of German concern Volkswagen: this manufacturer intends to take the leading position on the market of electric cars, and in different segments.

The indicator of sales of Audi models on the Old World market in the last «covid» year decreased markedly: during this period, customers bought 601,844 cars, which is 18.8% less than in 2019.

This year, the brand is recording an increase: dealers sold 341,432 cars in the first half of the year, an increase of 29.6% over January-June 2020.

Audi currently already has electric cars in its lineup, in the future their number will increase, because earlier the brand has already announced goodbye to traditional internal combustion engines.

It is too early to talk about future serial novelties, however, the German company has shared information about how it sees its own future: the Skysphere concept helped it in this.

The show car is a two-seat roadster with bold exterior and interior design.

Its development was conducted in the Audi design studio in Malibu (California, USA) by a team of designers led by Gael Buzin.

Recall that the Audi PB18 e-tron concept, introduced in 2018, was also created here earlier.

When creating the Skysphere, the company was inspired by the Horch 853 roadster from the 30s, but the design of the current show car is still futuristic, while it demonstrates the elements that will later be integrated into future production cars of the brand.

The concept received a large plug, which is located in place of the traditional radiator grille.

On this panel are LEDs, which are used to perform various visual effects, for example, change the view when the car is in sporty driving mode.

In the profile, «muscular» fenders are noticeable, as well as large alloy wheels with aerodynamic design (their diameter is 23 inches).

Behind the headrests there are protective bars, the open space above the head can be closed with a soft top.

The main «chip» of the new Audi concept is an expandable wheelbase: an electric drive is responsible for transforming the body.

When it «shrinks,» the front fenders step back to the doors and the sills are directed inside the rear wheel arches.

The length of the car before the transformation is 5190 mm, and after pressing the button — 4940 mm.

The width is 2,000 mm and the height varies from 1,240 to 1,230 mm, as the ground clearance can be changed by 10 mm.

The creators used eucalyptus, microfiber and leatherette in the Skysphere’s interior trim.

When driving autonomously, the system removes the pedals and steering wheel, and shifts the front panel: as a result, riders have more space.

By the way, there are several touch screens on the dashboard and center console.

The infotainment system provides the ability to stream music and video. The climate control is controlled from the doors of the roadster.

The show car is equipped with a 632-horsepower electric motor located on the rear axle (maximum torque of 750 Nm).

This car accelerates from a place up to «hundred» in 4.0 seconds.

Battery capacity is about 80 kW * h, and range on a single charge exceeds 500 km (calculated by the cycle WLTP), the company added that the data refers to autonomous driving mode.

In this mode, the car is able to independently not only drive on a given route, but also to park and charge.

To note, Audi Skysphere will be followed by other concepts: the Grand Sphere that premiere is scheduled for September (the show car will be shown at the Munich Motor Show) and the Urban Sphere that is expected to debut in 2022.

Audi introduced a sliding roadster: it lengthens by 25 centimeters The size of the car changes depending on the driving mode.

Audi prepares a line of three show cars: the Skysphere, Grandsphere and Urbansphere.

The first of them is already declassified: electric roadster Skysphere («Sky Sphere») was revealed in official photos, although its public debut will take place on August 13 at the Monterey Car Week festival in California.

The novelty turned out to be innovative: the roadster is able to increase in length depending on the chosen driving mode.

The increase is 25 centimeters, and all this distance falls on the wheelbase.