765 hp AUDI E ditches the four rings, keeps the sexy wagon aesthetic
Colour: Morning Haze
Audi is embracing its future in China with the launch of a new Chinese market electric sub-brand called AUDI that ditches the iconic “four rings” logo in favor of four capital letters – but one thing it hasn’t ditched is AUDI Audi’s sexy teutonic long-roof design language.
As you might expect from an Audi-issued press release that claims AUDI is a new and distinctive thing that’s totally separate from Audi, it’s a difficult and confusing read. Check out this sample and you’ll see what I mean:
The first premium car brand to enter the Chinese market back in 1988, Audi was a pioneer. As it launches its new brand AUDI in cooperation with SAIC, the company now underlines its claim to this role. AUDI is shaped 100-percent by the Audi DNA and embodies “Vorsprung durch Technik” in the era of electric intelligent connected vehicles. The AUDI E concept car was jointly developed by experts from both Germany and China. It offers a preview of three future production models to be introduced from mid-2025.
Which – I dunno. Maybe you’re smarter than me and this all makes sense. Regardless, Audi seems serious about this new AUDI thing, and the first vehicle to debut wearing the new nameplate does seem to share in the Audi DNA we’ve come to know, if only because it’s an AWD wagon and not a more generically-shaped SUV.
The AUDI E concept, itself
Co-developed with Chinese auto giant SAIC, the AUDI E Concept is about 4.8 meters long, putting it squarely in that BMW 5-series, Mercedes-Benz E-class range typically inhabited by the A6. Powered by two electric motors (one at each axle) putting out 570 kW (~765 hp) and 800 Nm (590 lb-ft) of torque to the ground through “signature” Audi quattro four-wheel drive, which enables the AUDI to rocket from 0-60 mph in about 3.5 seconds.
The concept car is equipped with a 100 kWh battery pack that AUDI parent company Audi says is good for up to 700 km of range (~430 miles) on the Chinese cycle. The wagon’s Advanced Digitized Platform also boasts an 800 volt system architecture that enables “super-fast” charging, adding more than 220 miles (370 km) of range just 10 minutes.
Electrek’s Take
Audi’s official press release says that the use of “AUDI” in lieu of the nearly century-old Auto Union rings “signals both the connection to, and differentiation from, the sister brand.” Now, call me cynical, but that seems both confusing and somewhat cowardly to me – if Audi wants to sell more affordable models in China under a different brand name, it already has one: Volkswagen.
Creating an AUDI that isn’t really an Audi is just bizarre, and I can’t imagine this move helping create the kind of positive energy that VW and Audi needs to dig themselves out of trouble.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Audi.
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Paris’ bike-share system, Vélib has long been considered one of the shining success stories of urban micromobility. With a massive fleet of over 20,000 pedal and electric-assist bicycles around Paris, the service has helped millions of residents and tourists get around the City of Light without needing a car or scooter. But lately, a growing problem is threatening to knock the wheels off this urban mobility marvel: theft and joyriding.
According to city officials and the service operator, more than 600 Vélib bikes are now going missing every single week. That’s over 30 bikes a day simply vanishing from the system – some stolen outright, others taken on “joy rides” and never returned.
“At the moment we’re missing 3,000 bikes,” explained Sylvain Raifaud, head of the Agemob company that currently operates the Velib system. That’s nearly 15% of over 20,000 Vélib bikes across Paris.
The sticky-fingered culprits aren’t necessarily professional thieves or organized crime rings. Instead, they’re often regular users who treat the shared bikes like disposable toys.
The city estimates that many people have figured out how to pry the bikes out of the system’s parking docks, unlocking one for a casual cruise and then ditching it somewhere far from a docking station.
Once pried free, the bikes are technically usable for the next 24 hours until their automatic locking feature kicks in. At that point, the bikes are often simply abandoned. Some end up in alleyways. Others get tossed in rivers. A few just disappear completely.
And since the bikes are intended to be parked at their many docking stations around the city, they don’t have GPS chips, further complicating recovery of “liberated” bikes.
The issue started small but has grown into more than an inconvenience – it’s beginning to undermine the entire purpose of the service. With bikes going missing at such a high rate, many Vélib docking stations are left empty, especially during rush hours.
Riders looking for a quick commute or a convenient hop across town are increasingly finding themselves without available bikes, or having to walk long distances to find a functioning one.
That kind of unreliability chips away at user confidence and threatens to drive potential riders back into cars, cabs, or other less sustainable forms of transport at a time when Paris has already made great strides to dramatically reduce car usage in the city.
The losses are financially painful, too. Replacing stolen or vandalized bikes isn’t cheap, and the resources spent on tracking down missing equipment or reinforcing anti-theft measures are stretching thin. Vélib has faced theft and vandalism issues before, especially during its early years, but this latest surge has officials sounding the alarm with renewed urgency.
Officials acknowledge that there’s no easy fix. Paris, like many cities with bike-share systems, walks a fine line between accessibility and accountability. Part of what makes Vélib so successful is its ease of use and widespread availability. But those same features make it vulnerable to misuse – especially when enforcement is limited and the consequences for abuse are minimal.
The timing of the problem is especially unfortunate. In recent years, Paris has seen impressive results in reducing car traffic, expanding bike lanes, and promoting cycling as a key part of its sustainable transport strategy. Vélib is a cornerstone of that plan. But if the system becomes too unreliable, it risks losing the very people it was designed to serve.
Meanwhile, as Parisians increasingly find themselves staring at empty docks, the challenge for the city and Vélib will be to restore confidence in the system without making it harder to use. That means striking the right balance between freedom and responsibility, between open access and protection against abuse.
In a city where cycling is supposed to be the future of mobility, losing thousands of bikes to joyriders and sticky fingers isn’t just frustrating; it’s unsustainable.
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