When concept cars appear in futuristic movies, the chances that they'll actually end up entering real-world production is slim to none. But Audi has established itself as a brand that hews quite closely to concept designs, as proven by the original TT that debuted at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show. And now, Audi has released a huge batch of information, including pics and videos, of the production version of the e-tron GT that Robert Downey Jr., aka Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, drove in Marvel's 2019 smash hit Avengers: Endgame.
Worthy Of Iron Man
The futuristic e-tron GT combines tech and style that's worthy of Iron Man himself. The fully electric grand tourer might not be as aggressive of a sports car as the R8 that RDJ also drove in the comic book films but it sure is more aggressive from a design and engineering standpoint. Even setting up the production facility for such a bold car has been another step of the process, requiring the use of virtual reality to optimize rapid iterations of all the logistics that go into the advanced car.
A Newly Reworked Factory
The e-tron GT will be built in the same facility as the R8, Audi Böllinger Höfe at Neckarsulm, in Germany. The car's assembly is made complex by the use of both steel and aluminum, according to Audi's press release, and as such, a two-pass system was developed so that ten robots can best assemble the inner and outer side panels.
3D Printing And Autonomous Transport
The facility also includes a 3D printer so that the humans who are employed there can quickly produce assembly aids, while another futuristic detail comes in the form of driverless transport vehicles that move both the R8 and e-tron GT around the facility as needed. Audi's advanced production methods are so accurate, apparently, that inline measurements will have a tiny possible deviation of just two-tenths of one millimeter.
Sources: audi-mediacenter.com and caranddriver.com.