Meet Ken Block’s New Ride, The Electric Audi S1 E-tron Quattro Hoonitron

In preparation for his first-ever all-electric gymkhana video, Elektrikhana, driver Ken Block has partnered with Audi to make a one-of-a-kind EV. The team has finally revealed the car and it’s inspired by the Audi Sport Quattro S1 that raced at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in the ’80s.

More of a modern reimagining than a remake, the new car is called the Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron. The unique car has been designed to feature many of the visual cues of the classic race car—the giant wing, the big box flares, rally lights—as interpreted through modern e-tron design language.

“The S1 Hoonitron combines a lot of what Audi was already famous for in the nineteen-eighties,” said Block. “I think it’s cool that the Audi designers have been inspired by their own past and uniquely transferred the car’s technologies and appearance into the present.”

It’s powered by two electric motors that give it, as the name suggests, quattro all-wheel-drive. Although power has not yet been revealed, we know that the Dakar-ready RS Q e-tron, which borrowed its pair of motors from Audi’s Formula E car, churns out 671 hp (680 PS/500 kW). Audi has revealed that the S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron gets a full carbon fiber chassis and has been designed to FIA safety standards.

“Audi gave me the opportunity to test it for a few days in Germany,” said Block. “I’m familiar with a wide variety of cars using internal combustion engines and transmissions, but there were a lot of new things for me to learn here. Spinning into a donut at 150 km/h directly from a standstill—just using my right foot—is an all-new experience for me.”

The car was built at Audi’s Neckarsulm location, where the RS e-tron GT is produced, as well. Audi design in Ingolstadt, meanwhile, was responsible for its appearance.

“When we first heard about this project, the whole team was thrilled immediately,” said Audi’s chief designer, Marc Lichte. “The timeline was extremely tight: while our design process normally takes one to one-and-a-half years, we only had four weeks from the first drawing to the final design. We were constantly in touch with Ken Block and his team and engaged in intensive exchanges.”

The Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron will soon see action in Elektrikhana with Ken Block behind the wheel.

“That Audi has now developed this car for me and my team, and has joined us in our next project, has made a dream come true for me,” said Block. “The Hoonitron is writing the next chapter in our history and taking our Gymkhana story into the future.”