Audi unveiled its first all-electric model, sort of, at the Geneva Motor Show. Rather than showing a production model, the German auto maker unveiled the e-tron Prototype, which was dressed in stylized camouflage that is a distorted digital image of the vehicle’s name.
Audi is testing nearly 250 e-tron models worldwide ahead of its debut and all will wear the same wrap. They will cover more than five million kilometers (3,106,856 mi)–roughly equivalent to 125 times around the earth and 85,000 hours on the road.
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“Audi sets an important milestone for the company’s future with its first purely electrically powered model,” said Rupert Stadler, Audi’s chairman. “In 2020 we will have three all-electric vehicles in our product range, with a four-door Gran Turismo–the production version of the Audi e-tron Sportback concept–and a model in the compact segment joining the sporty SUV. We will be launching more than 20 electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2025–spread across all segments and concepts.”
The e-tron is characterized by Audi as being a sporty, premium SUV with seating for five, which positioned the vehicle as sort of an EV version of the current Q5. Audi offered little in the way of specifics on the vehicle’s range other than it would be “suitable for longer journeys” and promised that with 150 kW charging capacity that it can be recharged in just under 30 minutes. The Audi e-tron will be all-wheel drive and is expected to be launched in Europe at the end of the year. No word yet on U.S. plans for the vehicle.
