Audi has taken the wraps off its first all-electric production car, the E-tron. The unveil took place in San Francisco, USA, symbolically not too far from Audi’s rival in the electric car space, Tesla, whose headquarters are in Palo Alto. The E-tron SUV is the first of multiple Audi electric vehicles in the pipeline, and is all set to go on sale in key regions like Scandinavia and USA in 2018, before a phased launch programme for other countries the world over. The big news is that India figures in the list of countries earmarked for the E-tron, with a possible launch in the last quarter of 2019.
The five-seat-only E-tron slots in between the Q5 and Q7 in size, and also carries a fairly conventional design, similar to its combustion-engine siblings. Speaking about the E-tron’s design, Marc Lichte, Head of Design, Audi AG, says, “This is the first battery-electric vehicle for Audi, so we want to create a familiar look. But I have to tell you, step-by-step, we will become, in terms of proportion, maybe a little bit even more progressive.”
A silver finish for the single-frame grille and a unique wheel design do distinguish the E-tron, but the real talking points are the SUV’s optional Virtual Mirrors. Camera pods take the place of traditional outside rear-view mirrors, with the image being projected on screens on the doors. It looks futuristic and Audi claims the solution has immensely helped aero-efficiency as well. On the inside, the E-tron is typical Audi with a screen-rich, cockpit-like ambience.
With no drive shaft between the front and rear, the floor is flat, adding to comfort for the middle passenger at the back. Space is good, as is practicality with an accommodating boot. Interestingly, there’s a dedicated bay for a space-saver spare tyre under the boot floor. Perhaps, Audi has acted on feedback from Q7 buyers on the awkward positioning of the spare wheel within the cabin.
The E-tron is built on a modified version of the VW Group’s MLB Evo platform, that positions a 95kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the passenger compartment floor. The battery pack supplies power to two electric motors — one up front, and one at the rear. Combined power is 265kW (or about 360hp), but a boost mode, which can be used for 8sec at a time, takes the figure up to 300kW or 408hp. Audi claims a standard 0-100kph time of 6.4sec, or 5.7sec in boost mode. Top-speed is 200kph.
The company has also made a bold claim for the E-tron’s charging capabilities, claiming a 30-minute charge time to 80% via a 150kW DC fast charger — the sort that will become common across Europe in the years to come. A 240V AC home wall-socket will juice the battery up to 80% in 8 hours or so.
Also, if Audi’s claims are anything to go by, range anxiety should be a thing of the past. The E-tron has been tested with a range of 400km in the realistic WLTP cycle, an impressive figure. In fact, it’s the high range that has got Audi thinking seriously about the E-tron for India, where EV charging infrastructure is virtually non-existent. They are looking at bundling charging hardware with the E-tron in India, rather than setting up a network of chargers, though the exact solution is yet to be finalised on.
Pricing will be significantly more than traditional combustion engine models like the Q7, and you can expect E-tron prices to easily breach the ₹1-crore mark. Audi sees the E-tron as a niche product that will be of particular interest to tech-savvy ‘early adopters’.
Audi’s announcement to bring the E-tron to India is the first confirmed plan from a luxury carmaker in this area. Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz are following a wait-and-watch approach for their EVs and Tesla’s India plans seem to be on the back-burner, even though Indian buyers were welcome to place a deposit on the Model 3 back in 2016. As things stand, the E-tron could just be the start of the shift towards electric cars among India’s luxury crowd.
