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New Audi A1 Pictures from Tokyo Show

Some renderings of what the ‘Audi A1 Metroproject Quattro’ concept will look like have been leaked.

It features a new take on Audi’s established Quattro technology. The Audi qautro four-wheel drive system is usually a traditional one engine driving four wheels affair. But the 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine under the A1 Metroproject’s bonnet only powers the front wheels. It gives a respectable 148bhp but is not going to help out with back-end traction. The secret is instead under the boot floor, where lurks a compact 40bhp electric motor, driving the rear wheels.

The A1 Metroproject is a hybrid, too. an extra 40bhp might not sound very much, the real bonus of an electric motor is the instant - and we do mean instant - torque. In the Audi A1 Metroproject’s case, the motor delivers an extra 148lb ft of torque. More than enough to propel what is supposedly an environmentally friendly city-car concept to 65mph in 7.8 seconds. The electric motor can also power the Audi A1 Metroproject entirely on its own at urban speeds, with a range of up to 65 miles thanks to lithium-ion batteries. As with all hybrids the only real downside is the weight penalty; the set-up reputedly adds 70kg to the Metroproject’s overall weight.

The Audi A1 Metroproject is also a ‘plug-in’ hybrid. So it can be recharged at any standard power outlet as well as via the petrol engine. It uses various regenerative techniques to recover energy while driving too, just like the Toyota Prius, and new BMW and MINI EfficientDynamics models. As a result it produces just 112g/km of CO2 and is capable of 57.6mpg. if you do not think that too impressive, remember: we are talking about 148bhp turbocharged petrol engine here, not some kind of diesel. The 1.4 turbo should appear in a refreshed A3 next year, the new A4, and the production A1.