The last time I wrote about one of rally driver Ken Block's jaw-dropping Gymkhana videos, it was about his trip to the summit of Pike's Peak in a 1,400-hp methanol-fueled 1965 Ford Mustang. Spectacular as it was, I couldn't help but feel it was time for Block to join the EV revolution. That time has now come, as Block released his latest demonstration of automotive acrobatics in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The video's name gives it away: Electrikhana.
Now, you don't just go hooning any old EV around the strip, at least not if you're Ken Block. In this case, his ride is a stunning one-off electric Audi, the S1 Hoonitron, inspired by the 1987 Audi Sport quattro S1 Pikes Peak car.
"Developing a fully electric prototype for the unique requirements of our partner Ken Block was a big and exciting challenge to which the whole team rose with flying colors. It is great to see how ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ is presented in an all-new environment," said Oliver Hoffman, Audi's board member for technical development.
The car has an all-carbon fiber chassis, which is bookended on either side by enormous downforce-generating wings. Each axle is powered by one of Audi's Formula E motors, similar to the Audi RS Q e-tron built for the Dakar rally but sending power to the wheels via a limited slip differential. But instead of using a Formula E battery pack like the RS Q e-tron does, the S1 Hoonitron uses four 17.3-kWh lithium ion battery packs, each originally destined for life in the Audi Q7 e-tron plug-in hybrid (a model not sold in the US).
With the motors running at 800 V, the S1 Hoonitron generates a combined 2,212 lb-ft (3,000 Nm) and burned through 100 tires during filming—2.5 times as many as Block usually uses while filming a Gymkhana video.
The biggest difference to those previous cars, according to Block? "Instant torque," he explained in a video delving into the S1 Hoonitron's build.
"The thing is, if you were to launch a regular race car, you've got to put it in gear... you need to sit in launch control for four to five seconds for the turbo to spool and for the boost to build and all that. So there's a process; it might only take 5–10 seconds, but there's a process to it," Block explained. By comparison, a launch in the S1 Hoonitron is as simple as mashing the throttle pedal.
The car also features a pair of cooling circuits, one for when the car is running and a second cooling circuit that connects to a service box that also contains the S1 Hoonitron's DC fast charger. However, battery life wasn't actually a problem while filming, according to Block and his team, who believe they could have gotten away with just a pair of battery packs instead of four.
And the cost? Block and his team don't know exactly how much Audi spent making the S1 Hoonitron, but they think the number might be about $10 million–$12 million.
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