This week Audi announced the details on their new A8 Hybrid. It will be powered by the same system as the hybrid Q5: the 2.0T with an electric motor. This setup makes 245hp and 345ft/lbs of torque. While this is “decent” we must not forget that the A8 is in fact the flagship Audi model, so it is not good enough.   

Those figures will be rather puny in a car as big as an A8, which should be a big autobahn cruiser. Recall–there is a different hybrid setup present in both the Porsche Cayenne and Volkswagen Touareg, one that would be much more becoming of six-figure luxury car. This system uses the 3.0TFSI from the Audi S4 and mixes it with electric propulsion. Altogether, this means 380hp and 425ft/lbs of torque–numbers that are basically the same as the 4.2L V8 present in the basic A8. Therefore, if Audi were to use the 3.0T hybrid in the A8, customers would not be sacrificing anything in order to go green. It seems like the obvious choice to me, but maybe the Germans just over-thought it.

The problem with most green cars on the market is that consumers must make some kind of sacrifice in order to be green. Why?!?!?! If one purchases an A8 Hybrid, said buyer will likely get 35mpg, but the same owner also has a gutless A8 that is unbecoming of its price. With the 3.0T hybrid, owners will see fuel efficiency that is nearly as good, and would not have to sacrifice the potent dynamics expected of a car in this range. It is foolish to make people sacrifice when you already have another solution available that won’t cause said sacrifice. If you ask me, 35mpg is nowhere near good enough to justify that sort of compromise–maybe if it achieved 50mpg. With the 3.0T I’d be willing to bet a lot that most can still top 30mpg while cruising on the highway, so 5mpg is not worth compromising the dynamic excellence that people expect from the A8.

As I said before, the 2.0T hybrid setup is “decent”, but Audi should be about making their cars “excellent.” I think at the very least they should add the 3.0T hybrid to the A8 as another option, even with the 2.0T hybrid as a lower level option. It is stupid to force customers, that are willing to pay around six figures for a car, to compromise this much. I like the 2.0T hybrid for the Q5, A4, maybe even the A6, but as the flagship, the A8 deserves better.

-Nick