Audi TT Offroad Concept Is Wireless And Weird

Combine a sporty coupe with the chassis of a compact SUV, sprinkle it with some wireless charging technology, and you get the Audi TT offroad concept. It’s weird. It’s wireless. It packs more than 400 horsepower and fuel economy 123 MPGe. Too bad it’s just a concept.

Adding a pair of doors to the Audi TT and stretching it out gives us the basic body style, though the chassis obviously has off-roading in mind. The plug-in drivetrain is similar to previous Audi concept vehicles like the Audi Allroad, Nanuck, and Sport Quattro concepts, offering limited electric driving and heaps upon heaps of horsepower.

In the case of the Audi TT offroad concept, a 2.0 liter turbo provides 292 horsepower, with another 116 horsepower coming coming from a pair of electric motors, for a total output of 408 horsepower and 479 ft-lbs of torque. That makes for a theoretical 0 to 62 MPH run of about 5.2 seconds, and the 12 kWh battery offers enough juice for up to 31 miles of electric driving range.

While just a concept, Audi oddly decided to include wireless charging technology as part of the package. It’s a strange addition for an off-road concept vehicle, and with just two paragraphs of a lengthy press release devoted to the wireless tech, it could simply be a feature added at the last moment for additional press exposure. Audi is working with companies like WiTricity (which also did projects for Toyota) to bring wireless EV and plug-in hybrid charging to the masses.

As for the Audi TT offroad? It will make its rounds on the show car circuit before being parked in what I assume is Audi’s high-tech, underground car vault, waiting for another day to inspire the future.

Source: Audi