Launching a new model always comes with challenges, but completely changing the dynamic and  embarking on a new road brings with it a whole set of additional challenges and considerations.

To that end, the Audi e-tron – the spearhead fro the brand in its drive for electrification has been subjected to the sort of punishment that no vehicle should ever have to endure.

But endure it has and come out the other side with flying colours, ready for the new world of e-mobility and ready to cope with anything that’s thrown at it.

Pressure testing is part of any new model’s development. Kilometre after kilometre of abuse in the harshest of conditions in every conceivable part of the world. Extreme heat, extreme cold, choking dust and sand – always attempting to find a fault that could compromise performance or the vehicle’s longevity.

With a vehicle like the Audi e-tron, the process has been particularly ferocious, given the importance of getting the brand’s first all-electric series production vehicle right from the start. 

Although electric vehicles are not a brand new concept, making them work in a real world sense is certainly new and absolutely vital to the future of e-mobility. Practical range, robust performance and a no compromise for the owner are musts – compromise is not an option.

So a fleet of Audi e-trons have undergone more than 85,000 course of brutal testing, effectively circled the globe more than 120 times, in everything from frigid arctic regions to baking deserts and everything in between. Every system has been pushed to the limit and then past any reasonable limits to make sure that no matter the situation, climate or conditions, it will perform as it was designed and engineered to do.

Certainly, no owner would dream of putting their e-tron through this sort of punishment, but it is exactly this attention to detail that forged the Audi brand over a century ago. The design and technology may have changed, but the relentless pursuit of excellence is in the DNA.