Audi makes history at Dakar with first electric-driven vehicle win

Taking on the world’s toughest rally, Dakar, is no easy feat, which is why it’s all the more impressive when you realise that Audi won the event for the first time ever with an electric-driven vehicle.

The achievement comes at the hands of Carlos Sainz Sr. and his co-driver Lucas Cruz who together drove a total distance of 7900km across the challenging terrain of Saudi Arabia to finish with a lead of 1h 20min.

It took Audi three years to achieve its first win at Dakar, while it was Sainz’s fourth victory as a driver, adding to his already impressive trophy cabinet which includes accolades like two World Rally Championship titles.

Upon winning this year’s Dakar, the 61-year-old also became the oldest winner of the rally.

His car of choice was the RS Q e-tron which sends power to the ground through four electric motors, one on each wheel, those of which have been sourced from Audi’s Formula E team. However, it can’t quite traverse the daily 400km plus long stages on electric power alone which is why the e-Tron features an onboard 2.0-litre turbocharged internal combustion engine that works as a range extender.

Two other e-Trons also took part in this year’s Dakar, driven by Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist and Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger respectively, but both wound up further down the standings after suffering parts defects.

“With our revolutionary electrified drive, we have overcome one of the biggest challenges in motorsport after just three years. We are thus continuing a long series of pioneering achievements that have always characterized Audi in four decades of motorsport,” says Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Board of Management of Audi, Technical Development.

“I would like to thank the entire team for this outstanding performance in a particularly tough edition of the Dakar Rally.”