Audi has taken the standard NSU Prinz 4 from the Nineteen Sixties and early ’70s and changed into a wild EV idea.

Revealed on Saturday, the one-off automobile was a mission undertaken by apprentices at Audi’s plant in Neckarsulm, Germany, to mark 150 years of manufacturing on the web site.

“We needed to construct a automobile that was not solely quick and appeared cool but additionally honored the A hundred and fiftieth-anniversary of the positioning,” Dean Scheuffler, one of many apprentices concerned within the mission, mentioned in a press release.

Audi wasn’t round 150 years in the past however the web site was initially residence to manufacturing of NSU stitching machines and later bycycles and bikes. NSU would ultimately transfer into automobile manufacturing beginning in 1905, together with launching the primary rotary-powered automobile within the type of the 1964 Spider (additionally known as Sport Prinz). That was three years earlier than Mazda launched its first rotary automobile, the Cosmo 110S.

Audi EP4 idea based mostly on the NSU Prinz 4

Though NSU survived the Second World Conflict, it was acquired by Volkswagen Group within the late Nineteen Sixties and merged with fellow VW Group model Auto Union. The merged entity would later grew to become right now’s Audi.

NSU’s Prinz 4 was launched in 1961 and constructed till 1973, making it one of many closing NSU-branded autos. The tiny coupe was powered by an air-cooled twin-cylinder engine with rear mounting, however within the fashionable idea, dubbed the EP4 (Electrical Prinz 4), the 30-hp engine has been changed by a 236-hp electrical motor borrowed from an E-Tron SUV (now the Q8 E-Tron). The tiny idea does not function the E-Tron’s huge battery, although. As an alternative, a smaller unit was borrowed from a plug-in hybrid Q7 varaint bought abroad. It sits within the space the place the automobile’s gas tank usually resides.

Constructing the idea was no simple job however on this method the apprentices gained precious expertise. After stripping the donor automobile and treating the remaining rust, the apprentices then modified the ground pan of an Audi A1, together with the brakes and axles, to suit the Prinz 4. The modification was required because of the huge improve in horsepower, Audi mentioned.

3D printing was employed to create lots of the one-off elements used on the idea. This contains for the inside, the place customized devices and shows had been put in. A pc presents data on the shows like remaining cost and pace data, in addition to performs diagnostic duties.