Future Cars

Audi showed a Q7 hybrid concept which married a 4.2-liter V-8 with an electric motor that adds another 148 lb-ft (to make a whopping 473 lb ft). In typically German fashion, this makes the hybrid even faster, trimming the 0-to-62-mph time from 7.4 to 6.8 seconds. Fuel consumption is said to be fifteen-percent better. Top Audi officials insist that this vehicle will make it to production in 2008, but the company engineers we've spoken with think that the powertrain will be too costly; diesels are cheaper and just as efficient. Regardless, if high-end Toyota and Lexus vehicles continue to sell well in the U.S., a vehicle like this could see our shores even if it doesn't make sense in terms of pure dollars and cents.