Audi will launch an entry degree full-electric automotive beneath the This autumn E-Tron compact SUV, because the model prepares to launch 20 new fashions by 2025 to match product pushes by rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
CEO Markus Duesmann introduced the EV at Audi’s annual information convention on Thursday. Duesmann declined to offer particulars of the automobile or its deliberate launch date. He mentioned extra particulars will probably be revealed within the coming months.
Audi guardian, Volkswagen Group, is growing a brand new household of small EVs for the VW, Skoda and Cupra manufacturers that will probably be underpinned by a shortened model of VW Group’s MEB electrical platform. On Wednesday VW model unveiled its idea for the primary of these fashions, the ID 2all small electrical hatchback.
Audi’s EV might use VW Group’s extra superior SSP (Scalable Techniques Platform) electrical structure that can underpin software-focused upmarket EVs in VW Group, in response to motoring press experiences.
The primary mannequin in Audi’s product offensive would be the Q6 e-tron midsize electrical SUV, which can debut the VW Group’s PPE (premium platform electrical) structure, which Audi developed along with Porsche. The subsequent-generation Porsche Macan will even be on the PPE platform.
The Q6 e-tron can have an 800-volt electrical system, as does the e-tron GT, which permits for shorter charging occasions. It will likely be accessible in Sportback and extra typical SUV variants; prototypes are actually present process testing and the mannequin will probably be revealed with out camouflage this summer season, Duesmann mentioned.
A important yr will probably be 2024, when Audi will launch greater than 10 new fashions and upgrades, together with vehicles on the brand new PPC (premium platform combustion) structure. These vehicles embrace the following technology A4 compact and A6 midsize fashions – and would be the final new internal-combustion technology as Audi turns into an electric-only model by the early 2030s.
By 2027, he mentioned, Audi can have about 20 full-electric fashions in its lineup, with an EV in each important phase.
The brand new A4 and A6 “will probably be contributing to the success of our firm for years to return, however the highway is clearly heading towards 100% electrical,” Duesmann mentioned.
Audi was an early mover in premium EVs with the E-tron SUV, which was launched in 2019 (an upgraded mannequin has been renamed the Q8 e-tron), however in recent times Mercedes-Benz and BMW have expanded their electrical lineups to incorporate giant and flagship sedans, together with the Mercedes EQE and EQS and the BMW i7 and i5 (launching later this yr). Audi doesn’t but have a full-electric A8, and an electrical A6 just isn’t due till 2024.
Audi barely outsold Mercedes in international EV gross sales in 2022, 118,196 to 117,800, however each manufacturers trailed BMW, which moved 172,011 EVs final yr. However whereas BMW’s EV gross sales grew by 148 %, and Mercedes’ roughly doubled, Audi’s full-electric gross sales grew by simply 45 %.
Audi has not supplied particulars on many of the new fashions deliberate till 2027, nevertheless it has unveiled 4 “Sphere” ideas that trace at future shapes and technical prospects.
- In January the automaker confirmed the Activesphere, a 4,980 mm-long self-driving sportback crossover that may be reworked right into a pickup and rides on 22-inch wheels. It’s designed to experience on the PPE platform, and would have a variety of 600 km (373 miles).
- The Urbansphere, proven in April 2022, has a extra typical four-door hatchback form, and was developed for the Chinese language market.
- The Grandsphere, a big luxurious sedan with rear-hinged again doorways, was proven in September 2021. It’s designed for totally autonomous driving.
- The Skysphere is a roadster idea with an routinely adjustable wheelbase that may shorten by 10 inches to create a “twin character” driving expertise, between self-driving and driver-controlled fashions. It was proven in August 2021.
One phase that isn’t prone to seem in future Audi lineups is the small hatchback, the place Audi sells the A1 mannequin, which is constructed on the VW Group’s MQB platform. Duesmann confirmed {that a} successor just isn’t deliberate to the present technology, which was launched in 2018. Earlier, he cited rising compliance prices for small internal-combustion engine automobiles as an element within the choice.
“We have not deliberate a direct successor for it as a result of we’ve to tighten our mannequin vary and make it leaner,” he mentioned Thursday. “We’re clearly positioning ourselves as an all-electric premium model.”