Autocar confidential: Renault's battery decisions, still no Audi RS8 and more
Our reporters empty their notebooks to round up a week in gossip from across the automotive industry
This week, we asked Audi if there's any plans for an RS version of the A8 saloon, talked to Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös about EV chargers and found out why the new Range Rover is the perfect vehicle for a global pandemic. But first, we caught up with Renault's engineering boss to find out what their battery plans are.
*Renault looking at different battery options*
Not too long ago, we reported that Renault won’t rush to introduce solid-state batteries, but it isn’t putting all its eggs in the lithium ion basket. Engineering boss Gilles Le Borgne told Autocar that FCEVs will also play a role, but mainly in the commercial vehicle sector: “When you’re talking about large CVs, you have to use hydrogen, otherwise you have too many batteries. It’s not an easy balance.”
*Audi RS8 still not on the cards*
The Audi A8 has just been refreshed, but there’s still no RS8. A product spokesman told us “there are no plans in the pipeline” as “an RS is very expressive and thus appeals to customers who would love that, while the A8 customers prefer a bit more understatement”. What’s not subtle about the RS Q8’s 592bhp V8 and 23in alloys?
*EV chargers need to be for everyone, including Rolls-Royce owners*
You can’t accuse Rolls-Royce of ignoring the concerns of us mere mortals. As it gears up to go all-electric, CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös acknowledged that even the flushest EV owners will need public chargers. “It would be a great sadness if the public charging doesn’t match the investments made by car companies,” he said. “Ethically, it’s not right” if the network isn’t up to scratch, he added, as “you need to ensure the public network is for everyone”.
*Why the new Range Rover is the perfect car to survive a pandemic *
Forget anti-bac wipes and hand gel: buy a new Mk5 Range Rover to fight Covid-19. Seriously. Apparently, its cabin-purifying system, which uses ‘dual nanoe’ technology to fight odours, viruses and bacteria, is 99% effective against the virus.