Page 54 - SHARP Winter 2022
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Rivian
Versus
Everyone
The American startup is taking on the world with its electric pickup
Upstart Rivian beat Ford, Tes- la, GM, and everyone else to the punch with an electric pickup truck; the R1T is rolling off Riv- ian’s production line in Illinois now. While it’s a bit too pricey to be a work truck, it’s surely the nicest pickup on the road right now. $90,000
54 AUTO • WINTER
AUTO
 2022 Audi RS e-tron GT Engine: Dual-motor electric Range: 373 km (EPA) Power: 637 hp Price: $179,900
The Best of Audi Sport
It’s the electric one
EVEN ON THE ROAD, THE RS E-TRON GT STILL
doesn’t seem real. It’s too low, too wide, too hun- kered-down on those huge 21-inch wheels. But drop way down into the driver’s seat, put the car in drive and put your foot down, and things get very real, very fast.
For reference, Audi’s RS 6 Avant feels like swinging a sledgehammer. It’s mighty powerful, but it takes a moment or two to build up momentum. In the GT, the force is similarly mighty, but it arrives instantly. The sudden rush is accompanied by a noise like a helicopter turbine starting up.
Total driving range is officially 373 kilometres as rated by the EPA, but as we and others have discovered, the EPA numbers are overly conservative. In the real world, driving normally, 410 klicks or more on a charge is very doable.
The underlying mechanicals of this car were co-de- veloped with Porsche, but Audi Sport has given the RS e-tron a feel all its own. Find a twisty road — or, better yet, a racetrack — and the low-flying GT rails through corners as if glued to the tarmac by some cosmic force, just like you’d expect a fast Audi would.
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