What is it?

The offspring of a late night drunken fumble between an Audi A5 and TT in an electricity sub station... The e-tron is the second concept from the German firm to wear that moniker; this time it's attached to a small coupé that's quite a stunning looker.

Why's it here?

Because Audi can. Audi President Johan de Nysschen is allegedly very dubious of electric cars, yet it's clear his engineers and product planners think differently. This is the second e-tron to take up space on Audi's show-stands and it uses two electric motors powered by lithium ion batteries to pump 201bhp to the rear wheels via a clever torque vectoring system. Trick headlamps, Smartphone integration and the usual concept car frippery is all on show, but of real interest is Audi's aluminium space frame technology being combined with carbon fibre body panels for the first time. All that allows low weight, the e-tron tipping the scales at a scant 1,350kg - and that's including all the heavy battery tech...

Show stopper or floor filler?

Stopper, no question. Not just because it looks so good, but because it's both lightweight and rear-wheel drive. Really, we want one. Even more so when we heard that it's got 1,954lb.ft of torque - and that's no keyboard slip-up. It'll hit 62mph in 5.9 seconds and has a range on a full charge of 155 miles; if saving the earth is this much fun then we'll put a deposit down on an e-tron and invest in an extension lead.

Full 2010 Detroit Auto Show report.

Kyle Fortune - 11 Jan 2010