German automaker Audi is set to debut its all Audi Q6 e-tron electric SUV in 2022, and expects to deliver more than 20 fully electric models by 2025.
In a speech at Audi’s Annual Press Conference, and in interviews with several publications, chairman Markus Duessman confirmed that the Audi Q6 e-tron will be the first Audi based on Volkswagen’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, hich Audi is co-developing with Porsche.
The new PPE platform will use an 800-volt electronic architecture and will therefore allow for DC rapid charging at up to 350kW. Designed for the premium and luxury segments, PPE-based vehicles will offer range upwards of 480-kilometres, sporting a single electric motor at the rear axle as standard and the option of a second electric motor at the front axle for all-wheel drive.
The Audi Q6 e-tron will roll off the all-electric assembly line in Ingolstadt from 2022, which is currently undergoing all-electric renovations. Additionally, according to Duessman, Audi is “establishing an in-house battery assembly right in the direct vicinity of car assembly.”
Duessman also confirmed that Audi will soon be launching four new electric models – the e-tron GT, RS e-tron GT, Q4 e-tron, and the Q4 Sportback e-tron – more than doubling the number of Audi all-electric models from three to seven.
By 2025, Audi expects to offer over 20 all-electric models as well as a rapid expansion of its plug-in hybrid portfolio, with more than 50 per cent of its combustion engine model series boasting a PHEV. Audi has also abandoned the development of new combustion engines, as announced by Duessman last week.
Audi unveiled its all-electric e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT last month, which is expected to land on Australian shores in the second half of 2021 and will be offered in two variants, starting with the “entry-level” quattro at a base price of €99,800 (upwards of $AU150,000 at today’s rates), and will be joined by the top-range RS e-tron quattro, priced from €138,200 (upwards of $AU210,000 at today’s rates).
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.