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Audi Q8 E-Tron could have 370-mile range

Audi technical boss Ulrich Hackenberg has a huge job ahead of him if he's going to add more electrified models his employer's portfolio. Currently, the German company's electrified offerings amount to just the Q5 Hybrid in the US and the A3 E-Tron in Europe, but British auto mag Autocar is claiming that Hackenberg wants to add a Tesla Model X-rivaling electric version of the company's long-rumored Q8 utility vehicle to the plans. That E-Tron model, said to be a high-riding crossover with coupe-like lines, is expected to be Ingolstadt's CUV flagship, positioned just above the Q7 (pictured above).
Autocar further maintains that Q8 E-Tron will borrow its front- and rear-mounted electric motors (good for around 375 horsepower) from the recently revived R8 E-Tron, and the model could be ready as soon as 2017. This sporty CUV is expected to have a much greater range than the two-door electric sports car, however. Figure on about 370 miles thanks to room for extra batteries.
The still-not-confirmed Q8 range is expected to be offered with gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains, and will ride on the same platform as the Q7, albeit fitted with sleeker styling. Like all of Audi's upper-end offerings, it will make extensive use of aluminum for the body and chassis to keep weight down.

Justin Bell laps Willow Springs... in the dark... using only night vision

Night vision has made its way into quite a few luxury cars as a night-driving safety feature, but eBay Motors wanted to see if the technology could be used to actually drive the car. Former racer and World's Faster Car Show host Justin Bell grabbed the keys to an Audi A7 and headed to Willow Springs Raceway to find out.
As if driving in the dark of the desert night wasn't hard enough, the car's windshield and side windows were blacked out, so Bell's driving relied completely on the three-inch night vision display located in the gauge cluster. In addition to navigating the track, his producers also threw in a few surprises for Bell on the track. We don't want to spoil too much for you, but based on the speeds exhibited in the video, we don't think 24-hour endurance races will be adding this tech any time soon; that being said, he probably drove the car faster and better than we could have.
Scroll down to watch how Bell does lapping the track using only the car's night vision.

2015 Audi A3 gets augmented reality app in place of owners manual [w/video]

There have been a few, seemingly half-hearted, attempts at reinventing the owner's manual - that thick stack of bone-dry information that you only look at if you're well and truly stumped. Hyundai tried swapping in iPads with the Equus, which didn't really take, while Chrysler switched its owner's manuals to digital form in 2010. Chrysler subsidiary Dodge even released a smart phone app that included all the info contained in the paper manual.
Audi, though, may have taken things to their logical conclusion - augmented reality. While it'll likely be more practical once Google Glass and other wearable tech is adopted on a wide scale, augmented reality allows users to project information on scenes, usually through a phones camera, which is how Audi does it.
Called eKurzinfo, the app looks through your phones camera to identify and explain different parts of the car. According to Metaio, the app's developer, the app recognizes 300 different parts of the car. Our sister site, Engadget, provides the best example of the app's abilities - if you point it at the engine temperature gauge, the app tells you what the gauge measures, and if the reading is too high, eKurzinfo will even show you where to find the coolant tank.