Audi Skysphere Is An Autonomous Electric Grand Tourer

It’s a long two-door vehicle that according to the manufacturer is trying to ‘redefine progressive luxury.’

By: Andrei Nedelea

Aug 10, 2021 at 1:30pm ET

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One of the three concepts that will define the future of Audi is the newly revealed Skysphere. It’s a long, sleek two-door grand tourer whose design is meant to evoke the spirit of the traditional GT car, but also show how it could end up looking in the not too distant future.

In other words, this is a design exercise meant to preview the design direction of Audi’s future sporty models. Its front end gets very slim headlight clusters, but a big illuminated faux grille (that Audi calls the Singleframe) dominates the fascia. Even though it won’t be needed for EVs, Audi has announced that the grille is a design feature it intends to keep purely for aesthetics.

Audi doesn’t currently make a large continent-crossing coupe, but the Skysphere’s elongated profile makes us wish it did. The vehicle has a swept back rear end with lots of overhang and its designers wanted to give it a hint of the popular 1930s boat tail design. The rear end is tapered and quite simple, dominated by the full width LED light bar that has several stacked rows of lights.

Gallery: Audi skysphere concept 2021

Inside, just like on the exterior, the design feels like an evolution of the vehicles the automaker is currently manufacturing. As is the trend in the industry nowadays, there are screens spanning the whole width of the dashboard, including in front of the passenger, although they are tiered and aren’t covered by a single pane of glass.

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Autonomous driving is another important proposition pushed by the Skysphere concept. The vehicle is designed to drive autonomously, but it also allows the driver to take control and experience the full 465 kW (623 horsepower) and 750 Nm (553 pound-feet) of torque that allow this 1.8-ton vehicle to accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) on 4 seconds.

Audi also mentions that with its 80 kWh battery pack, the Skysphere should be able to cover over 500 km (310 miles) on one charge in its most efficient GT mode.