The Audi e-tron might look like a run-of-the-mill, high-performance sports car, but don’t let appearances fool you. This all-electric prototype isn’t just four wheels and an accelerator. Audi made extensive use of aluminum and carbon fiber in building the car — which is based on the German carmaker’s vaunted midengine R8 supercar — and made the doors, roof and other body panels of fiber-reinforced plastic. Driver inputs are all space-age: the rearview mirrors have been replaced with closed-circuit television monitors, and the propulsion system is state-of-the-art electric. This car is truly a look into the future of the automobile, and is completely dedicated to showing off the automaker’s prowess in the high-tech arena.

But for all its gee-whiz gadgetry, high-tech engineering and forward-thinking design, the most amazing thing about this car is that it’s as close to a production model as a prototype gets. In fact, Audi says it will build 100 e-trons in 2012, with more to come if demand warrants. If Audi can deliver on this promise, it would be like your power company pledging to build lunch-box-size nuclear reactors that will power your house for pennies a month, then actually doing it within a couple of years.

We were recently given a chance to drive the e-tron — under tightly controlled conditions, of course. Don’t forget it is a concept car, designed to whet our appetites for electric propulsion in general and to buff Audi’s logo in particular — it’s not ready for prime-time production. Even so, the experience was an eye-opener.