Audi e-tron ski slope ad
You asked, now you’ve received.
In our Twitter poll last week, readers told us that they think automakers should quit focusing on electric cars’ green credentials in ads and start advertising their performance.
Apparently Audi was reading their thoughts.
After spending as much as $5 million (or more?) on a somewhat ethereal Super Bowl ad that promoted a lineup of mostly conceptual electric cars, Audi has released another ad, at least on the web, that promotes the performance of the electric e-tron quattro SUV scheduled to come out later this spring.
READ THIS: Audi Super Bowl ad: Heavenly electric-car future, hackneyed themes?
This one shows the e-tron quattro SUV scaling one of the world’s most famous ski-racing slopes, the Streif, at Kitzbühel in Austria.
The ad mirrors an Audi ad from 1986, promoting the benefits of the company’s then-new Quattro (when Audi still allowed the use of a capital “Q”) all-wheel drive system in climbing a 36 degree ski jump in an Audi 100 sedan.
The latest feat is even more impressive, with the Streif climbing at 41 degrees on average, but reaching as steep as 85 degrees in some sections.
To make the climb without sliding into oblivion, the e-tron quattro wears snow tires equipped with spikes more than studs. (It also uses a cable and hook underneath, but Audi insists it is not pulling the car, but is there as a safety mechanism.)
CHECK OUT: What EV advantages should ads emphasize for the masses in 2019: Twitter poll results
It’s not the first time Audi has reprised its hill-climb stunt. The company repeated the feat in 2005 with an A6 Quattro (there’s that “Q” again.)
At least electric-car fans now have a mainstream company promoting the performance of an electric car—even if it hasn’t quite gone on sale yet.
