Audi previews stylish Urbansphere concept minivan
Urbansphere Concept has suicide doors and swivel seats
Ever fancied being driven around an urban megacity in style? Audi is making that happen in the near future.
The German automaker has debuted the Urbansphere concept – a versatile and spacious EV minivan built to put an emphasis on passenger comfort.
Audi says designers focused on the interior of the Urbansphere first, as the concept car is designed for families who live mostly in the city. But outside, the Urbansphere has minimalist aesthetics combining the look of a crossover and a minivan. The front and rear fascia feature large arrays of LED lights that illuminate in different patterns.
At 5.51 meters long and 2 meters wide, the concept car is longer than the Audi Q7. Once you open its suicide doors, it has a spacious interior to give passengers a sense of freedom and openness. There are only four seats and two rows, but all of them have a tilt and swivel function together with extendable leg rests to create a comfortable and versatile seating area.
In addition, together with the Skysphere and Grandsphere prototypes, the Urbansphere joins the family of future Audi vehicles with level 4 autonomous capability. That's right. The vehicle could drive itself, while you could simply relax and be a spectator as it drives along busy urban roads.
In case you haven't noticed, the concept minivan has no physical steering wheel. That's because, during autonomous driving mode, the steering wheel hides underneath the dashboard. But of course, the steering wheel would pop out once the driving mode is under human control.
The Urbansphere rides under Audi's Premium Platform Electric and uses a 120 kWh battery pack to power its two electric motors. Their combined output is rated at 396 PS and 690 Nm of torque. In terms of range, Audi says the Urbansphere can travel up to 750 kilometers on a single charge.
While we won't see the Audi Urbansphere concept in the market anytime soon, it's a glimpse of what the future of urban mobility could become.
