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LOOKING at the Audi e-tron sports car, you'd hardly be surprised to learn that it can go from 0 to 100kmh in under five seconds.

But this fact might surprise you - it runs completely on batteries.

The concept car, which was on display at the Clean Energy Expo Asia last week, is the first electric vehicle the German carmaker has built from scratch.

It will likely cost more than the Tesla Roadster, another battery-powered sports car also displayed at the expo.

But wait. Aren't electric vehicles usually fuddy-duddy golf cart lookalikes that are more suited for grocery shopping than the race track? Mr Martin Freudenhagen, head of Audi's Project Management Electrification A-Sequment, doesn't think so.

He told The New Paper: "People think that electric cars are boring. We want to show that it's possible to create an electric car that delivers the performance and excitement of a sports car."

Though still in the concept phase - limited production of the e-tron is expected in two years - Audi knows who its customer will be.

Someone with the money and "is an early adopter in automotive and energy efficiency technology", Mr Freudenhagen said.

While the e-tron is not the first sports car to run on electricity - that honour goes to the Venturi Fetish - it may be a common sight on city roads soon.

A mass market option, the A1 e-tron, is expected to hit the roads in three to four years.

Although electric vehicles (EVs) may be good for the environment, such cars are a rarity here.

The Land Transport Authority said Singapore has just two EVs, compared with over 585,000 petrol-based ones.

Still, with Singapore committed to a 16 per cent emissions cut by 2020, the future for green cars looks bright.

Mr David Chou, managing director of electric conversion firm EV World, said: "It's about changing people's habits. In densely built-up Singapore, being at the wheel of an electric car that generates no noise can give people peace of mind."