The Audi E-Tron is the first hybrid car to win the 24-hour auto-racing endurance test of Le Mans.
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“This result is the fruit of so much hard work,” Beniot Treluyer, one of the drivers of the Audi said after winning the event. “We prepared well for the race, and Marcel, André and I felt more confident after our win in 2011. We also worked with the same technical staff, including our race engineer Leena and our mechanics. We are really motivated by the hybrid project. Today, I think we wrote a fresh page in motor racing history.”
Unlike the Prius you may have in your driveway, Audi’s E-Trons have a powerful turbo-diesel V6 running the rear wheels, and swap the massive battery -- found in traditional hybrids -- for a flywheel that collects energy from things like braking coverts it into power for the front wheels on the vehicle.
Audi didn’t just walk away with the gold. It nabbed the top three spots. Another Audi E-Tron finished second, and the Audi Ultra picked up third in the race. A non-hybrid, the Toyota–powered Lola, took home 4th place, besting the other Audi Ultra on the track.
The car wasn’t the only hybrid on the track for this year’s race. Toyota also hit the track with its LMP1, however, the car did not finish due to an accident.
"By achieving this further success at the world's most important endurance race our engineers demonstrated their high technological expertise in a particularly impressive way," said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG."
The E-Tron is currently a prototype, with a production model expected to be available some time in the future for consumers.
[via Jalopnik]
This story originally published on Mashable here.
