[Photos] We Wish This Audi A8 With Built-in Rice Cooker Existed

We've all been there: it's the end of the day and you're inching your way home through rush hour traffic. When you finally make it to your house, the last thing you want to think about is making dinner.

But next time you find yourself in this predicament, just remember: if you were in Japan, you could have done both at the same time. Or at least, that's what Audi wants you to think.

Last year, on the occasion of April Fool's Day, the car company made a faux announcement informing its Japanese clientele of the limited edition release of the Audi A8 5.5, a vehicle which featured both Audi's signature state-of-the-art technology and a built-in rice cooker in the rear seat console.

The only catch, unfortunately, was that the car didn't exist. Still, the sales pitch was attractive: Audi marketed the vehicle to consumers by saying the cooker used a Japanese heat convection system known as hagama and featured a touchscreen operating menu. Beyond the miniature onboard kitchen, the car's interior also showed tatami seat covers, and the name of the model itself – the 5.5 – was specifically chosen for the Japanese market: five (go) and 0.5 (han) make gohan, the Japanese word for rice.

We're not a huge fan of adding more cars to the streets of Saigon, but if you could cook xôi in your vehicle, we'd find traffic jams a lot more bearable.

[Photos via Audi Japan]