However, nothing is set in stone and Audi CEO Rupert Stadler recently suggested it's not a electric sedan they want. In a recent interview, Stadler confirmed the R8 e-tron will go into production come 2015 and should be joined by a crossover round about 2017.
“It’s probably going to be a crossover, but development work is still ongoing," the Audi official said.
Admittedly, just about ever concept car Audi has shown the past few years was powered to a degree by electricity. But the closest thing they had to a crossover was the TT offroad concept from this year’s Beijing Motor Show. Its 2-liter TFSI turbo was helped by an extra electric motor delivering 115 hp, the same as the e-Golf.
The funny thing is we don't yet know if this electric crossover is a standalone model or not. It would make sense to develop something from scratch, just like BMW did with the i3 and i8, but the Audi range is already being cluttered by too many models that do the same thing. However, going up against the unique Tesla Model X with something like a Q5 e-tron sounds like folly.
Perhaps more important than the shape of the car is the range of the battery. Bloomberg reports that an 80+ kW pack will be used to power two electric motors delivering a combined 380 hp for a total range of 370 miles (595 km).
Must be a big crossover with7 seats they are talking about. Otherwise, that much power in an EV is total overkill.
After showing a design prototype in February 2012, Tesla Motors will have its Model X electric crossover ready for production way before Audi. "In anticipation of this effort, we now expect Model X deliveries to start in Q3 of 2015," CEO Elon Musk recently said in a statement.
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