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Moni Islam is standing in front of an oversized LED wall that displays an aerodynamics simulation of the Audi e-tron GT.1 He throws his arms wide open and follows the simulated airflow along the vehicle’s silhouette. Brimming with pride, he declares: “With the Audi e-tron GT1 we’ve succeeded in blending fantastic design with very good aerodynamics.” The Canadian makes no secret of the huge challenge his specific discipline has faced: “For system reasons, electric vehicles can carry less energy on board in their battery than conventional vehicles have in their fuel tank. So we need to take special care Dr. Moni Islam, Head of Aerodynamics/ Aeroacoustics Development Active aerodynamics improve range Ph o to : R o b e rt F is ch e r P h o to : R o b e rt F is ch e r 1 Audi e-tron GT quattro: combined electric power consumption in kWh/100 km: 19.6–18.8 (NEDC); combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 0 Audi Report 2020 142 Products & Services when using that electrical energy. For us engineers, there’s a huge incentive to develop the best possible aerodynamics for all our electric models.” Every one-thousandth degree of improvement in the aerodynamics can extend the range. That is because aerodynamic drag is often the dominant component of road resistance for an electric vehicle when driven by the customer. At speeds beyond about 100 km/h, it already accounts for roughly half of total road resistance. At a steady 140 km/h, aerodynamic drag approximately doubles. That inflates energy consumption by around 50 percent. P h o to : A U D I A G Audi e-tron GT quattro: combined electric power consumption in kWh/100 km: 19.6–18.8 (NEDC); combined CO₂ emissions in g/km: 0 In combination, the vehicle details create a sculpture that looks like it was shaped by the wind. This is further underscored by styling with a high degree of aero dynamic quality. The drag coefficient amounts to only 0.24.