Audi has not been shy about its aspirations to assault the market with electrified vehicles, but it hasn’t delved too far into specifics. A new report might shine some light on that darkness, though.
Audi will unveil an electric SUV approximately the size of the Q3 compact crossover, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the matter. The same source also told Bloomberg that Audi intends to bring a battery-electric variant of the Q2 crossover to China, as well.
The automaker did not immediately return Roadshow’s request for comment, but an Audi spokesperson declined to discuss specific models with Bloomberg. The automaker did tell the outlet that Audi has seven hybrids and five EVs planned for launch by the end of 2020, though.
The source went on to tell Bloomberg that this Q2-sized EV will be built at Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant in Germany to help keep costs in line. VW has already spent over $1 billion to outfit the Zwickau plant for EV manufacturing. It’ll be the plant responsible for the electric I.D. hatchback, which is slated for a 2020 launch in Europe. The automaker is also converting two other plants in Emden and Hanover to build other EVs.
Thus far, the only battery-electric vehicle Audi has actually unveiled is the E-Tron SUV. It’s an expensive proposition at $74,800, but it’s in line with its primary competitor, Jaguar’s I-Pace. However, we still don’t know what its US range will be — based on rough conversions of European testing standards, we expect a range in the 200-ish-mile region, which isn’t exactly earth-shattering, but it’s a good first step.
