Audi RS Q e-tron Underwent Two Weeks Of Desert Testing

Before the Paris Dakar Rally debut, Audi has been hard at work making Audi RS Q e-tron to perform like it would in a race. The electric rally demon was pushed for 1,000 miles on punishing gravel roads in Spain to provide the team with a realistic simulation of the extreme operating conditions they will face during the Dakar Paris next year.

Audi RS Q e-tron endured two weeks of blistering desert conditions in Morocco for an extended torture test. Including Dakar record-breaking Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, and Mattias Ekstrom, who drove Audi's electric rally SUV prototype across desert dunes, all three Audi driver crews competed.

To help improve communication, the cockpit was revised for the Morocco test. Audi RS Q e-tron went through extreme temperature fluctuations, ranging from above 100 degrees Fahrenheit during evaluation. The electric SUV's parts were pushed to their limits by the storms. Until this test, the RS Q e-tron had not been through these hot temperatures, which required the team to find and fix issues that were unknown before the test.

Andreas Roos, who works in the Motorsport Division of Audi Sport, explained he expected much lower temperatures at the Dakar Rally. Nevertheless, they decided to test our concept in the Morocco to find out how it worked. Morocco showed them, however, they still have a lot of work to do before the Dakar Rally and they only have a short amount of time left.

In addition to these two electric engines on each axle, as well as a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four from an Audi DTM that serves as a generator, Audi RS Q e-tron also uses 2 electric engines from the e-tron FE07 Formula E car and a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four from an Audi DTM. In addition, the two power systems together produce 670 horsepower, nearly three times as much as the RS Q8's 591-hp production SUV.