Audi will be marching on green pastures by the middle of this year. The company had already told us that it will be bringing in the production version of its first fully electric car by August this year and now it has revealed that at the Audi Summit in Brussels on August 30.The car will be produced in Brussels and Audi is now preparing the factory for production to begin. While some of us were wondering if Audi would bring out a sports car as its first electric model, but the company has chosen an SUV and justifiably so.
Rupert Stradler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG said, "Some years ago we started with the idea of the R8 e-tron, and we developed prototypes and tested the technology. Market analysis showed that the SUV body-style was in demand and 3 or 4 years ago when I said, 'Let's go with the SUV', everyone said, 'Are you crazy?' but finally, when we saw what's happening in China and even India, and even around the world, the SUV trend is on the rise and this is a very sexy car."
Audi had announced that it's ready to bring the e-Tron to India by 2019 if the infrastructure is in place
Also Read: Audi e-Tron Prototype Unveiled
The production version of the Audi e-tron prototype can fill up on electricity at fast-charging stations with up to 150 kW charging capacity. In just under 30 minutes, the SUV is then ready for the next leg of the long-distance journey. The electrical quattro makes the e-tron a four-wheel drive car and the sporty SUV will complete test drives on four continents, whether in the cold of Scandinavia or the heat of Africa, in the mountainous altitudes of Asia or on the north loop of the Nurburgring, in the stop-and-go traffic of major Chinese cities or on American highways. In addition, intensive tests of the charging technology are being conducted worldwide - an important safeguarding criterion for battery-electric models.
Also Read: Audi e-Tron Receives 3700 Bookings
For the production version of the Audi e-tron prototype, customers will for the first time be able to book various functions flexibly online. In total, the brand aims to generate an annual contribution to operating profit of €1 billion with digital services via the myAudi customer portal by the year 2025.
The Audi e-Tron has already received 3700 bookings
Also Read: Audi To Sell 8 Lakh EVs By 2025
Stradler said, "2018 is a key year for Audi with an enormously high speed of change, that will gradually put us back on the offensive. We will continue clearing up the diesel crisis and will restructure large parts of our global organization for the course we have set for the future. At the same time, we are approaching the climax of the biggest model fireworks in our company's history and are entering the age of electric mobility with the Audi e-tron."
