FIRST DRIVE: Audi RS Q e-tron - Electric Dakar Car Tested On and Off-Road | Top Gear

[@neilreid2298]

Congrats to Carlos and the e-Tron team for winning the 2024 Dakar. That's an incredible achievement.

[@mayazhossain]

Man is it just me or the Car really sounds like a RC car xD

[@Ismalith]

Cheap gears do that.

[@vipe650r]

It totally does! That’s hilarious.

[@vipe650r]

@@Ismalith There… there are no gears

[@Boleslav69]

Its basically a scaled up version of rc car so yeah.

[@Ismalith]

@@vipe650r Yes they very likely use a transmission with one fixed gear as do most EVs for reduced rpm. And this sound is the sound of straight cut gears as Vipin just said. If you drive cheaper cars from the 1990 in reverse you'll hear the same noise.

[@jimmy87587]

Big congrats to Audi for building the loudest EV in world history

[@4literv6]

Have you not heard the t pain edition scream coming from the mach e 1400 drift car gittens team built? Or the Porsche cayman gt4e performance Chris Harris recently tested. 😀

[@fmcdomer]

u actually want it loud. would run over all these kids

[@AtheistOrphan]

McMurtry Speirling produces 120db.

[@hardc0reloonasimp]

Good, make them as loud as possible

[@jagass8669]

Sounds like an rc car lol

[@malcolmspeyer8644]

Would be a great starting point for a real life warthog design!

[@michaelvu3101]

hoonigan already built 1

[@malcolmspeyer8644]

@@michaelvu3101 I don't think the hoonigan Warthog could handle Dakar or aggressive all terrain running like this thing can. That's why in my oppinion this platform would be a great basis for a real life usable warthog. Better than any other "one off" that has been created so far.

[@purwantiallan5089]

@@malcolmspeyer8644 the car should try Formula E then.

[@TheBCninja]

@@malcolmspeyer8644 it started life on a purpose built off-road chassis. So the hoonigan warthog offroads pretty well. But this Dakar build is about 12x the price and built by audi, so ofc it's going to be better. Also the warthog isn't electric powered.

[@MishraArtificer]

I'm SO glad I wasn't the only one thinking that...

[@joseacuna3239]

It’s a very interesting car. I’m glad to see Carlos Sainz doing good still, he’s a living legend

[@thomaskoning3985]

Yesterday he went out of a burning F1 car. Aged quite a lot tho

[@gonzalohita3702]

nice

[@saptorshimukherjee8532]

Just like Carlos Sainz jr. , he loves the sand!😂

[@liamkhonje7616]

😂😂😂😂😂oh jeez this is underrated

[@cronicclude8253]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@harleyb7880]

Lol

[@robertsteel3563]

Legit took me a second to find the joke with this lol! 😅

[@afox20]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[@jameskerr7828]

And he's won the 2024 Dakar in it

[@David-vg8ou]

That noise would drive me bonkers... It's like nails down a chalkboard

[@harryballsacky]

NO RUMBLE

[@andersjonsson8403]

Congratulation Carlos with Team to the Great Victory of Dakar 2024! 😊👍🏁🏆🏆🍾🍾

[@mbphilipblack8993]

The Audi RS Q Etron is FANTASTIC i love the Rally/Off Road feel of the design, i love it, its large, beefy but has those sleek lines and angular panels. The combo of black and red with all of its decals make it striking against snowy or the desert terrain. And in some countries i can't believe they let you drive it on roads haha.

[@geoffyin]

Interesting that there’s an internal combustion engine onboard to charge the batteries. Wonder how far you can get with this setup (before the fuel runs out) compared with how far it could travel if it was solely using an ICE with no electric motors.

[@annakquinn7084]

Yes is a hybrid, but the EV extremism only allow the to say is electric.

[@Ritalie]

I think this is an amazing car. But I think we will look back on these times 20 years from now and wonder how we made such little progress with car batteries and gasoline, over a 40 year period between 1985 and 2025. No other technology is recognizable from 1985, because it has changed so much. Car engines and car fuel injection is exactly the same, despite there being about 5,000 patents which could completely revolutionize electric car battery capacity and internal combustion engine combustion technology.

[@LukasRaschendorfer]

The total efficiency is actually better than letting the ICE drive the wheels directly. The EV drivetrain has hardly any losses and the ICE can run super efficiently. Running the ICE with such dynamic loads would make it super inefficient.

[@annakquinn7084]

@@Ritalie patents are not equal to feasible solutions. There’s a lot of patents for ideas that cannot be implemented. For engines the revolution or change has ben applied by material science and electronic control, new knowledge of CFD combustion chamber behavior and so on. There’s 80s technology that has not been implemented on street cars due to laxity from companies (they are not obligated by government regulations).

[@testi2025]

@@LukasRaschendorfer yes, but there are losses when you recharge a battery, store the energy and then use it on electric motors. Those losses are more than drivetrain losses are. And also the needed components add weight. That’s why in a pure long distance drive, a car with tiny diesel engine goes further with less energy, than a similar hybrid car. In a normal day-to-day driving, hybrids are better. BMW i3 has a model where there is a small range extender engine in an electric car, works just like this Audi.

[@yourgotoproducer]

RC car. Crazy. As a kid we played with them, now we are driving them. Wild. What a time to be alive.

[@Jacobp_RC]

As adults we play with them as well. Most kids couldnt build an rc nowdays

[@TheSilverShadow17]

​@@Jacobp_RC Us men never grow up, just that our toys get bigger lol

[@nhlakafistozshandu5376]

Wow! I've never seen a machine like this. Its like a car from Mars. What a wonderful innovation.

[@bremCZ]

Check out the Extreme E racing series on youtube. They're into their second season racing similar cars.

[@mikejakubik]

What's so innovative about it? It's just a plain old hybrid made for Dakar.

[@bremCZ]

@@mikejakubik Like all those others?

[@mikejakubik]

@@bremCZ Exactly, just look up The Spark Odyssey 21 electric SUV.

[@Mr.Engine993]

@@mikejakubik plain old hybrid? Did you even watch the video? It has an output of 671HP purely electric. The ICE engine is only used to charge the batteries when voltage drops. For comparison, an F1 car has about 750HP With both the ICE and electric motor combined. Also, he said that it is surprisingly drivable so lots of innovation on making the car stick to the ground and obey to the driver's commands. You probably have no idea how much engineering is going on behind each and every part of the car

[@Asperaetastra]

What a piece of engineering thoughts and endeavours! Thank you, Tog Gear for this material!

[@yakub3962]

An actual road legal SUV coupe based on this technology would be an amazing car 😫

[@KaypangAsli]

Nissan Kicks E-power

[@Schmitzelhaus]

Omg, that integrated jack to change the tires is freaking genius!

[@jCouzito]

So many race cars have the pneumatic jacks built in.

[@Schmitzelhaus]

@@jCouzito Yeah, sure, but i´ve never seen it on a big ass trophy truck like this. The way this tilted the car just kinda impressed me more than those little struts on track cars, but essentially you´re right ofc.

[@JAfonsoNunesMartins10]

it's nothing new, many race categories have that

[@GodspeedZRZ]

It sounds just like my first car, a 2001 POWER WHEELS Silverado.... I hate the sound but that machine is wicked!

[@llMarvelous]

I odore projects like this it's when you give an excellent engineer complete freedom of action and an unlimited budget, you get a result that blows everyone's mind, changes the rules of the game in the industry Engineers and designers just go all out and all in, and as a result, something truly remarkable is born

[@Superdelphinus]

Audi often seem to be at the forefront of these sort of innovations too, at least over the last couple of decades. Hope they end up in f1 at some point.

[@dragonfire3196]

At this day it wons the 2024 Dakar, Incredible !

[@AJNpa80]

Finally a full electric drive with on board generation, this is what they need to break the off-road truck and SUV segment.

[@crono331]

yeah because building a car with an expensive, heavy, complicated and fragile >transmission< is such a great idea.

[@soundslave]

BMW, Chevy and Honda have tried it with full production cars. it was axed by all three companies eventually in favour of pure EV. Maybe they learned something that made it not worthwhile

[@jameson1239]

@@soundslaveI think they realized just doing Hybrid drive is better for most commercial purposes

[@Neojhun]

Welp Sr. just crashed badly in an Extreme E today. Luckily he was all conscious but seems to be injured badly. Get well soon.

[@marTn3]

How do you know

[@ospreyzxc7960]

@@marTn3 it's live race.

[@dogmoo]

When you’re a big enough name that they don’t mention your son is a formula one driver

[@HARLANP]

I love how insanely loud it seems to be 🤣

[@jamesbond1231]

it sounds like shit.

[@b127_1]

Sounds insulation adds weight...

[@dtibor5903]

@@b127_1 nah, they cheaped out on some gearing. Straight gears are loud like these, helical gears are absolutely silent

[@cameronrobertson9518]

@@dtibor5903 They didn't do it because its cheaper, they did it because straight cut gears are stronger. Most race cars use them

[@Shortgrauzis]

5:20 "new sound of motorsport" ok cool, but can we not pretend that it is a good sound?

[@detaart]

lol @ the combustion engine screaming in the background. WAAAAAAAAA i have only minutes to live AAAAAA

[@alpenfoxvideo7255]

man when that range extender kicks in feels like you’re in a body shop with the compressors running

[@武则天-b4g]

Looks like robert pattinson's batman got a new batmobile and it's 100% electric.

[@Holy_Sushi]

In old top gear jeremy would have just drove this around powersliding and yelling more power. I miss old top gear

[@randyledford6496]

That is amazing 👏 and that sound at low speeds is something crazy 🤪

[@aterkel71]

Absolutely mental! Joy to watch, thank you.

[@niklaskoskinen123]

I love how both Sainz's sound exactly alike.

[@EnterTheFenix]

Almost like they are family?

[@Sossingro]

He'll always be the Celica rally driver to me!

[@marekkaaij5941]

So 2026 F1: Audi x RedBull?

[@Rolingmetal]

I wonder if it has and electric handbrake?

[@gunsandcommissions]

Is it a European thing to be all up in Carlos's face the whole time you are interviewing him? The man is a legend. Give him some space.

[@DemRizzo]

Bro was standing 2-3 meters away. Literally nothing wrong with that. On top of that, Carlos didn't seem to be uncomfortable in any way.

[@kedmond]

It's got nothing to do with being European. He's just a really poor interviewer/host.

[@gunsandcommissions]

@@DemRizzo Do you even know how far a meter is? And his stance/posture was unnecessarily aggressive. It was just weird.

[@DTSlotRacing]

Carlos and Audi didnt just win it they smashed it out the park

[@NeigeFraiche]

Why is the whine so loud?

[@grdprojekt]

I do wonder is it the straight-cut gears or just the electric motors being so loud

[@triplemoyagames4195]

It's Louder than I thought it would be

[@AbdalaBrothers]

Cannot believe it’s not Chris Harris talking and getting tips from the legendary Carlos Sainz to drive it….

[@420thugsta]

Holy heck!!!! That thing is friggen sick!!!!! Much love from Texas!

[@ajsap8160]

I'm guessing that noise are the straight cut gears.

[@beenjammin7187]

These are literally just life size rc cars now. Can't wait for the monster truck version.

[@Princess_kitty14]

im happy for Audi to be joining F1, i don't think they'll pull a BrawnGP but im sure they'll bring in a fresh perspective

[@fxrisxmxli]

3:13 I wished he said that "Take care of my car...don't lose it". - Carlos

[@Keineshuste]

Very well done @Audi! If that's the future, bring it on. I really want to go camping in one of these to Wadi Rum, one day, maybe in a decade or so.

[@timurjoyo4311]

Its slow when in the city, but so loud?

[@stevenwheeler6278]

Hope Carlos Sr is doing alright after that crash, lovely bloke and family.

[@zameerosman8265]

That ev sound 😍 and loud

[@Cullanorr]

So basically it charges while driving?

[@greengrowlocks566]

How does it count as an "EV" if iit's carrying its own gas generator?

[@grisocabeza397]

And he won, yes he did it again. GOAT

[@mental1986]

I love four circles

[@flyingpeter]

i followed the dakar on january, shame to see the audis braking over suspension, and yet they pulled hard to the end, hope they do better next year

[@17xyz17]

This didn't age well :)

[@flyingpeter]

@@17xyz17 yep, now the drivers are braking

[@mattweger437]

10/10 would daily drive

[@beamecho9898]

Never knew it was a hybrid . Interesting concept

[@sparktite]

So this thing has 0 camber and then when it turns it goes into positive camber? Why not run slight negative to compensate like usual?

[@k.r.99]

3:19 the whole sequence that started here, feels like Guanajuato in Horizon 5

[@bustinbass78]

What happened to Ken block?

[@IamMathenge]

5:15 ARE YOU SURE!!!😂😂😂😂😂

[@Hi5CARS]

Bro please can you tell the name of the BGM used in intro

[@Hi5CARS]

Bro can you tell the name of the music in this video intro

[@krisontavake9649]

It's like listening to RC cars racing sound...👍

[@DanielSaxon]

I always wondered what it would be like driving in my RC car…

[@nasosnasos8054]

Price ?

[@AtheistOrphan]

It’s a one-off concept car, it’s not for sale. But like all car manufacturers, if you threw a few million at them they’d make a bespoke car just for you.

5:19 Where is that town you visited?

[@neil.o4]

That car wails like a tormented soul

[@DetroitMicroSound]

The great thing is, it sounds like a racecar, not a vacuum.

[@subarashi-sama6309]

this car is so cool im happy to leave long enough to see this happening

[@faezezzy]

that humming is nice

[@black_baron_net]

☠BLACK BARON☠ 10:39👍 Great stuff ... I'll use it for my retractable wing swimmers of my flying yacht.

[@markich9510]

why is there an exhaust pipe at the rear?

[@thomasmargis9808]

Because there is an combustion engine in this car aswell! Havent you seen the video??

[@svenbrenner3583]

Any electric car should look and drive like that one. There should be laws forbiding any other electric car 😍

[@boomerang-digital8514]

calm down dude

[@Neojhun]

Pass, i'd prefer a smaller more agile Electric Car for roads. Hmmm the McMurtry Spéirling exist. Not sure I could drive one at 8 / 10ths but I'd rather have one of those.

[@TheSilverShadow17]

The main setback of electric cars is their weight, since the battery takes up a lot of space in the vehicle which is a compromise in performance and handling, and to make that more clear, EVs have their own bespoke tires made specifically for them to handle the constant load and rapid acceleration.

[@sarangreview9780]

Is that the real sounds on the city streets?

[@beinghappy1312]

So the gas engine charging system is lighter than more batteries?

[@SuperV8driver]

Partially yes, but more batteries dont help if you are somewhere with no electricity, like the desert ;)

[@martinsreel]

Sounds and looks just like a giant RC car

[@allwheeldrive]

That bit on the street was a waste of time... The rest was a bunch of fun, and is a great sign of things to come!

[@isitw3522]

Brilliant video

[@crustybasterd1352]

Love it! Albeit all I can think of is the fact that that sound is just because of inefficiencies in the drivetrain/motors

[@leftaroundabout]

Not necessarily. The sound indicates that they used _spur gears_ instead of the nowadays standard helical gears. Normally, you don't find spur gears in cars, except the reverse gears in many older cars (remember that sound?), but they can actually be _more_ efficient because there's less friction between the gears. Apart from the loudness (which clearly isn't a problem here), the disadvantage of spur gears is that they can't cope as well with high torque, which makes them seemingly an odd choice also for a race car. But apparently it's ok, perhaps because the ground traction is low in the desert and the electric motors so smooth.

[@catinthehat5140]

@@leftaroundabout electric cars have similar torque at all rpms , wouldn't that be even worse

[@cademckee7276]

@@leftaroundabout In reality straight cut gears are stronger than helical gears for motorsport because, 1 they don’t need to reenforce the gearbox and shafts to deal with the perpendicular torque created by helical gears, 2 they save lots of weight some of which can be used to reenforce those gears and regain any strength lost. (Plus most of these motorsport applications are using billet gears etc so they are already stronger than road gearboxes to deal with the torque)

[@arjun._.bbC6]

@@leftaroundabout Actually no. Striaght cut gears can handle high torques, which is why they are used in motorsport. It's that they cannot handle axial loads because, as the geometry shows, there's nothing in the gear profile that stops them from sliding. Straught cut gears are great for motorsport as they have high torques and reduced radial loads compared to helical gears. Like in this car, that has stupid amounts of torque (also because electric cars go 2x to 3x C rate at the start to overcome intertia since their gear ratio is designed for near max speed).

[@arjun._.bbC6]

The sound is like in any vehicle- moving parts create vibrations which translate to sound. Now while we don't have the standard combustion sound, the only sounds we hear are A, from the straight cut gears, and B, from the motor bearings. Thanks to fewer moving parts, motors have higher peak and average efficiency compared to ICEs. Motors go at 70-80% average efficiency and 95% peak efficiency (both mechanical and electrical) while ICEs barely manage 40% peak and a way lower average. Fun Fact: the last recorded highest thermal efficiency was my Merc AMG for their F1 engine in 2017, which is the highest any ICE has ever touched. So yeah, motors are really extremely efficient.

[@eddiemorrone870]

Is that a fuel tank at 10:49, just above the spare?

[@eddiemorrone870]

4:30 answers my own question

[@Novak596]

Wow a life size lego car 🤩

[@SystemCrasher113]

Vehicles are turning into GIANT RC CARS

[@thgserra]

Why is the noise so loud and high pitched?

[@GIBBO4182]

Amazing bit if engineering!

[@przemyslawwyszynski3320]

Not a plugin hybrid? It has TFSI on board .....

[@eric106071]

It's a real life RC car!!

[@pinga858]

Mans got a damn speed racer autojack in that thing

[@RoGamg]

My friend was in the team that works on this mean machine

[@burkaanc]

10 years after small Latvian company finished Dakar with similar range extended electric OSCar eO

[@derJackistweg]

Does it have the famous German Euro 6 "Version" on the tdi engine?

[@Savorychicken41]

That sounds just like my RC car

[@gb333]

Congrats you created a fast electric whistle

[@SimienHill]

RC cars are getting good!

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

Serial hybrids are a great idea. The trade-off in efficiency is well worth it, given a car needs 500 kg less batteries to achieve a competitive range.

[@crono331]

no they arent. they are stupid. really, really stupid.

[@Papinak2]

They are not a great idea, there's always dead weight in the form of generator. Parallel hybrid with two motor-generators is a better idea. Which is why Toyota has been making it for 20years.

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

@@Papinak2 At the cost of either the complexity of a greatbox (parallel hybrids), or a huge battery (BEV).

[@Papinak2]

@@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X what complexity? Toyota uses a simple planetary gearbox. In exchange, it gives it flexibility to use both electric motors as generators and use power from the engine directly on wheels. More efficiency, more power per weight, less strain on electric components.

[@Carini76]

An electric car...with a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four...from a race car.

[@MichaelBrown-ds5ll]

R.G. LeTourneau used diesel engines to power the electric motors in each wheel of the earthmoving equipment decades ago.

[@boomerang-digital8514]

using the james may setup 💪🏼

[@ACarGuy915]

It’s a full size traxxas

[@dfheezy]

Why is it so loud?

[@Aldebaran80]

Sainz has a lot of potential, he will have a great career like a driver, you can bet for this... Al-Attiya said this car only would run 2 or 3 days in the Dakar... 😂

[@MrGMawson2438]

Sounds like an electric remote control car 😆