Audi, BMW Electric Car Plans Dropped For Now: Report
The fear of rise in the fuel prices and strict emissions regulations some time back made a number of automakers to announce about the future plans of manufacturing an electronic car. The two automakers, who were the first to announce about their ambitious plans were Audi and BMW. The plan of these companies were to set up a division dedicated to zero-emission motoring. Now the scenario is that the fuel prices are not as much higher as they have been speculated earlier and the shift in the latest crop of gas-powered cars which also offer the mileage as good as some hybrids car has also decreased the fear of fuel cost. And as always, diesel as a substitute is present in the current market.
Audi has dropped the plans for an electric version of its upcoming A2 city car and A1 e-tron. A1 e-tron was tested on the public roads. The reason behind this sudden drop of the plan is the high cost of setting up the project. The sales of the original A2 which had a lightweight aluminum construction were also very poor. Audi's Electric Car, A3 e-tron will still appear on the streets of the U.S. as a hatchback electric car. The first Audi electronic car R8 e-tron from the clan of e-tron model will debut in 2012 but speculations say that the sales of this car will be limited. BMW’s electric car plans are also in the same situation as that of the Audi Electric Cars. The reasons behind BMW to drop back its Electric car plan are the external catalysts, charging infrastructure, government subsidies, and the aforementioned rising fuel prices.