Audi reveals electric tearaways the e-tron GT and RS

Find out what the manufacturer has in store with its latest non-fossil fuel-powered creations

Nice looker, the new Audi e-tron. All pictures courtesy Audi AG

The e-tron quattro and RS nudge bumpers.

On the charge.

It is unmistakeably an Audi, inside as well as out.

The e-tron's stylings are much like those unveiled in the concept Audi unveiled a few years ago.

The e-tron shares many components with the Porsche Taycan.

Drivers can expect Audi's usual attention to detail on the inside.

The most powerful in the range will hit 250kph.

For those looking for cars with a bit of zip and pizzazz, electric options seemingly become more appealing with every new release. So it is that Audi has just revealed its e-tron GT.

It's not the brand's first foray into non-fossil fuel power – there are already a number of SUVs available – but you wouldn't need Perry Mason to help with your reasoning if you were to proffer the argument that this is its sportiest offering to date.

The e-tron GT is being mooted as an alternative to Tesla’s Model S and it shares many components with the Porsche Taycan, so it has some competition already.

Shape-wise, Audi has kept the e-tron GT very much along the lines of the concept vehicle it revealed a few years ago. It looks as sleek as anything else currently on the manufacturer’s roster, and rather more so than a few of its more humdrum siblings, in fact.

The e-tron GT is being presented in two guises – the e-tron GT quattro, and the RS e-tron GT. When it comes to power, the standard version produces 469 brake horsepower, a 0-100 kilometres per hour time of 4.1 seconds, and a top speed of 245kph. The RS is even faster, clocking in with 590bhp, 0-100kph in 3.3 seconds, while topping out at 250kph.

Plenty in those stats to get the speed fiends interested, then. The power comes from two electric motors (one to drive the front wheels, the other to do the same at the rear), and each e-tron has something called a boost mode that will up the power even more by a few percentage points.

When it comes to range, which is an all-important consideration in electric vehicles, of course, the specs claim drivers will get around 487km out of a full charge.

Audi is clearly thinking about the future with this vehicle – rather than the usual leather upholstery, the manufacturer says it has been fitted out with a “high-percentage” of recycled material.

Price-wise, the standard GT will cost €99,800 ($119,000), with the zippier RS version at €138,200 ($167,500).