Audi electrically-driven turbo

[Irishtom29]

The twin parallel turbos of my F-150 Ecoboost six give an almost immediate rush, with imperceptible lag, much unlike our Saab turbo of several years back which had a quite noticeable lag. But then there is the added complexity of the second turbo.

[yowps3]

The Turbine of turbos spin up to 200,000 - 300,000 RPMs

An electrical driven compressor will have issues. Also the heat is another issue. And they'd draw too much power putting too much load on the electrical system rendering them less efficient.

[ukrkoz]

This is old news. Those guys been around for years:

e-Racing :: OFFICIAL SITE :: The e-RAM Electric Supercharger from e-Racing Motorsports

[flynavyj]

Yep, as everyone else has said it's essentially an electric supercharger which isn't really "New" tech...if Audi/VW does what I'd expect, this will likely work its way down to lesser model vehicles to improve driveability and decrease development costs.

I like the idea, and 70,000 rpm is usable for short duration applications such as those where this will be used...not a bad idea.