electric motors have high torque, dunno how but check out that 8 wheel drive japanese electric people mover thingy from a few years back, it had bucket loads of torque.
The team at Automobile Magazine, initially duped like everyone else, has recognized that Audi was quoting torque measured at the wheels, not at the output shaft – the industry standard. Measuring torque at the wheels takes the multiplication effect of the transmission and final drive gears into account. The resulting figures are generally ten-fold of what they would be at the crank (meaning cars like a 3.6-liter Chevrolet Malibu packs a similar 3,115 lb-ft of torque). Audi's e-tron torque figures are not exactly dishonest, but they are using a completely different evaluation without making mention of it in the press release. Long story short, Automobile estimates the e-tron makes about 252 lb-ft of torque, or a bit less than the Tesla Roadster's 273 lb-ft. http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/03/audi-twists-e-tron-3319-lb-ft-torque-rating/