For the first time ever Audi has decided to come to the Pebble Beach concourse with a concept, and they have nailed it. The Audi PB18 e-tron concept is the company’s vision of a future high-performance sports car, and it is magnificent in every way.

Audi always thinks practically, even when they are making supercars. So it comes as no surprise that their vision for the perfect sports car of the future is a shooting brake. They have also decided to step aside from that whole autonomous rend that is gripping every motor show, building the Audi PB18 e-tron as a pure driver’s car. They actually called it “Level Zero” during development as a way to emphasize it must have zero self-driving capabilities.

Audi PB18 e-tron is, naturally, an electric car with an aluminum, carbon and multi-material composite body that weighs no more than 1,550 kg. That is good, considering the car is quite luxurious and also carries around with it three powerful electric motors – one up front and two in the rear, and also a host of solid-state, liquid-cooled batteries. As for the performance figures, you have a total output of 500 kW, combined torque of up to 830 newton meters (612.2 lb-ft) corresponding to a 0-100 km/h time of just over 2 seconds, and a range of over 500 kilometers (310.7 miles). The fully functioning concept also benefits form technologies such as wireless charging and laser headlights.

The PB18 is very much a concept for now, but Audi’s commitment to electric mobility is absolute. That makes us think of this thing as a preview of a future version of the R8. Not the next one, and probably not the one after that. But eventually…