The new Audi e-tron brings with it a raft of new technology, from all-electric quattro, to clever energy recuperation and superb aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. But perhaps the most obvious at a glance is the option of virtual side mirrors, which completely reinvent the concept of side or wing mirrors on a vehicle.

Offered for the first time in a volume-production vehicle, the Audi e-tron’s virtual exterior mirrors are a unique combination of striking design and a highly technical and superior means of monitoring the road behind the vehicle.

Integrated into the hexagonal end of their flat supports is a small camera, whose images are digitally processed and displayed on high-contrast, 1280 x 800-pixel OLED displays in the transition between the instrument panel and the door.

The design is such that they blend into the driver’s area’s wraparound concept, and the position of the seven-inch displays is such that the motion of ‘checking the mirrors’ remains largely unchanged, but the image contained on the screen offers greater detail and superior reproduction, particularly in poor conditions, over a conventional mirror.

With inclusions such as automatic brightness adjustment and proximity sensors, what is transmitted into the cabin and the clarity of the image can be adjusted. Also, if the driver moves their finger toward the surface of the touch display, symbols are activated with which the driver can reposition the image. A switching function also allows the driver to use their display to also adjust the virtual passenger-side mirror.