It’s not that Ingolstadt’s on again/off again R8 e-tron wasn’t a deliciously indulgent glimpse into what one-percenters will add to their rolling war chest. In fact, there’s still a glimmer of hope the four-ringed brand might actually develop and sell the electrified R8 in limited numbers. But it wasn’t long after Audi teased journalists with parking-lot-speed test drives on closed roads that the sleek EV disappeared from the product planning lineup.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz pressed full steam ahead with their 740-horsepower, battery-powered SLS – astronomic development costs be damned. The line between vaporware and honest-to-goodness technology can indeed be crossed with persistence and piles of euros, even if those future-friendly technologies are hidden beneath the current SLS’s achingly attractive – if aging – silhouette.