Don’t call it a concept: 670 hp AUDI E7X electric SUV caught testing

The new electric SUV from Audi’s Chinese AUDI brand is being billed as the most important launch in the young company’s history, and it’s set to make its official debut in production form this April – but thanks to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), you can see it right now.

Audi recently embraced its future in China with the launch of a new Chinese market electric sub-brand called AUDI that ditched the iconic “four rings” logo in favor of four capital letters but kept the brand’s traditionally teutonic long-roof design language. The brand’s first car, the all-electric AUDI E5 Sportback wagon, was met with feverish demand, racking up more than 10,000 orders in its first thirty minutes on the market.

Alas, a wagon is just a wagon – and no matter how popular one may be, if there’s an SUV to be had in the same showroom, it seems to be a global rule that the SUV will probably outsell the wagon.

That certainly seems to be what AUDI hopes, anyway – and the AUDI E7X SUV, set to ride on the same PPE (Premium Platform Electric) skateboard as its E5 stablemate, looks like it may have what it takes to outsell the Sportback by a wide margin. Now, thanks to the MIIT and Chinese car blog Autohome, we know what it will look like.

This is it

In a bit of a switch on the usual Order of Things™, the production version of the new AUDI seems a bit sleeker and more dynamic than the concept. Caught testing during cold-weather tests in China, the top-trim AUDI E7X features 22-inch rims, cameras instead of conventional wing mirrors, and a LiDAR/radar sensor array at the top of the windshield. An active air intake lives in the AUDI’s front bumper, getting cooling air to flow where and when it’s needed.

It remains to be seen what (if anything) AUDI plans to do with the flush, hidden doorhandles (shown, above) before its official launch.

You can check out some of the new AUDI E7X’s final productions specs, below. I’d give you some kind of summary of what they are, but I can’t read Chinese. That said, Google Translate insists the new SUV will be offered with a choice of two ternary lithium batteries, in 100 kWh 109.3 kWh capacities, and in four configurations with up to 751 km (~465 miles) of range on the highest mileage, 300 kW 2WD variant with the biggest battery. A 500 kW (~670 hp) AWD “Quattro” version is also being offered.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

AUDI E7X production specs

SOURCE | IMAGES: MIIT, via Autohome.

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