Audi

Audi’s top labor representative Peter Mosch demanded today that Audi build an upcoming all-electric model in their main plant in Ingolstadt, Germany, reasoning that employees of the main factory should not be left out as the industry moves towards electric vehicles. The comments were made in a speech to 7,000 workers at Audi’s 43,000-employee Ingolstadt plant.

Audi has previously stated that they plan to locate production of their all-electric models in a smaller 16,000-employee plant in Neckarsulm, where the company currently makes its higher-end vehicles. Planned electric models include the quattro e-tron SUV, a sportscar and a compact car, the latter two of which are still yet to be unveiled.

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Audi’s upcoming quattro e-tron SUV is expected to be the first in a series of new all-electric premium vehicles from German automakers. Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW are all planning new electric vehicles to come out between 2018 and 2021.

The company has now revealed plans for two more electric vehicles to follow the SUV next year: an electric sports car and an electric compact, said CEO Rupert Stadler via AutoExpress.
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Audi’s e-tron quattro SUV could become next year the first in a series of premium all-electric vehicles to come to market. Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and other premium automakers are all planning EVs for the end of the decade, but the way the vehicles program are set up, Audi is apparently ahead of the pack with its 2018 release.

But of course, Tesla is already well-established in the premium electric vehicle segment with the Model S, a large sedan, and the Model X, a premium SUV.

While discussing the upcoming launch of the e-tron quattro, Audi’s Chief of Sales and Marketing, Dietmar Voggenreiter, decided to ignore the Model X and claim that with the e-tron quattro, Audi will be “the first real premium manufacturer doing a premium electric SUV”(via Autocar).
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At this point, most industry watchers would agree that car dealers are a barrier to the electrification of the car industry. Recent studies have painted a negative (borderline disastrous) picture of the electric vehicle shopping experience. Car dealers’ lack of interest in selling EVs have led to poor knowledge about the vehicles, no inventories, cars often being left uncharged and not ready for test drives.

Knowing car dealers make most of their money from service and that EVs have fewer moving parts and therefore require less service, Tesla anticipated the issue and decided to operate its own sales force. But other automakers are stuck with their dealership networks and they are now trying to get them on-board with EVs in order to be competitive in the ongoing electrification of the industry.
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Today, Audi announced a new a deal with FAW, its Chinese manufacturing partner, to expand its activities in China and introduce a series of luxury all-electric vehicles as well as a broader electrification of their lineup.

The German automaker took notice that China became the world’s biggest electric vehicle market last year and considering the Volkswagen group, Audi’s parent company, is among the few automakers committing to volume production of EVs, they will need market shares in China to sell those vehicles.
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Audi’s first all-electric vehicle is expected to hit the market in 2018 and be the first of a series of upcoming all-electric vehicles by the Volkswagen group. Before going all-electric, Audi is introducing its second plug-in electric vehicle after the Audi A3 e-tron: a new Audi Q8 SUV.

What is particularly interesting is that the German automaker claims it will bring the vehicle to production very quickly after having unveiled it just this week at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).
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While we are waiting for Audi’s first commercially available all-electric vehicle, the quattro e-tron, which is expected to hit the market in 2018, the German automaker announced today that it completed work on what could now be considered its first electric vehicle, the “Audi lunar quattro” rover.

The vehicle, which is equipped with an electric powertrain based on Audi’s e-tron tech used in its “normal” electric vehicle programs, was developed by Audi in partnership with a group of engineers participating in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, a unique challenge to land a privately-funded rover on the moon’s surface, drive 500 meters and send back pictures to earth.
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Considered part of the “Triple Crown of Motorsport” alongside the Indianapolis 500 and Monaco Grand Prix, the Le Mans 24 Hours race, started in 1923, is one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the world.  Teams are allowed three drivers and must race to complete the most laps over a 24 hour period, which means that winning cars must show exceptional performance, reliability and efficiency.

As a result of this, the race has been used as a proving ground for many technological advancements, most recently the appearance of hybrid electric vehicles which first raced in 2009 and have won the race every year since 2012.

Audi has absolutely dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans ever since they returned to the race 18 years ago.  With 13 wins in those 18 years, they have been the manufacturer to beat at the race. In particular, they are credited with heralding the “diesel era” of the race, leading to diesel-engined winners from ’06-’11, and diesel-electric hybrids from ’12-’14.

So today’s announcement that they would quit the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans race comes as a bit of a shock. Or does it?
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Audi confirmed this week that they are pulling the plug on their all-electric e-tron supercar, which is basically a battery-powered version of the Audi R8. If you haven’t heard of the vehicle program despite being launched back in 2009, that’s because Audi ended delivering fewer than 100 units over the last 2 years since starting series production.

The company was reportedly working on a new generation, but they confirmed to Car and Driver yesterday that the program is dead and they are in “the process of delivering the last few units before production stops for good.”
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We are seeing an increased interest for the all-electric Formula E championship by established automakers. After Jaguar creating its own team earlier this year, now Audi announced its increased involvement with the Formula E Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport ahead of the 2016/2017 season starting next.

They are moving from what could more easily be described as a sponsorship to a complete partnership in the program and they unveiled a new race car skin – pictured above.
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With the Volkswagen Group wanting to build 2 to 3 million electric cars by 2025, Audi, one of their companies, is leading the charge with some exciting new electric vehicle projects. One of which, the Audi A9 e-tron, has recently been confirmed to be put into production and up for sale in 2020.

The German automaker says that the vehicle will be equipped with a ‘level 4’ autonomous driving system – up one level from the 2018 Audi A8, which is expected to have a level 3 system.

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Last year, Audi announced it’s first all-electric vehicle, the e-tron quatro, a luxury SUV expected to fit between the Q5 and Q7, and therefore, it will likely change its name to Q6 once it will enter production at the company’s plant in Brussels starting in 2018.

Now we learn that the automaker is also planning an electric version of the Q5, which should go into production at the company’s new factory in Mexico.
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Earlier this year, design and engineering firm Italdesign unveiled its latest creation: GTZero. We missed the original release, but as the company is letting more info on the concept, I think it’s worth taking a look.

The concept is designed on two different platforms: all-electric and plug-in hybrid. We will get into the electric platform, but first of, let’s take a look at the stunning design.

I know electric car enthusiasts are not really waiting for other entries in luxury segments, but it’s not like EVs represent anything close to a significant percentage of the luxury vehicles on the market and therefore, any new entrant is good for the industry. As a Gran Turismo, the GTZero’s design goes a long way in helping electric vehicles dissociate themselves from the ‘weird-mobile’ look some automakers have been pushing. 
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Audi plans to release an all-electric luxury SUV, the e-tron quattro, in 2018. The vehicle is expected to become the first all-electric competitor to Tesla’s Model X. Earlier this year, we reported on one of the first Model X in Europe spotted near to Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt (pictures above), where the german automaker is believed to be reverse-engineering or benchmarking Tesla’s SUV – something it also did with the Model S.

Now a Model X reportedly driven by an Audi engineer has been spotted again over the weekend, but this time in a more interesting context.
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Audi’s electric-mobility chief Stefan Niemand had surprising words of appreciation for Tesla at the recent Technical Congress of Germany’s automotive industry organization (VDA) (via EETimes). Niemand commented:

“I hate to admit it, but Tesla did everything right”

The executive was especially praising Tesla’s EV infrastructure strategy: the Supercharger network. He also made the comment not long after the first Tesla Model X in Europe was spotted near Audi’s headquarters.
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We learned this weekend that the first Tesla Model X in Europe has been spotted near Munich, Germany. As Tesla is still getting through the production of the Model X for early reservation holders in America, it is surprising to see the vehicle in Europe and actually raises a few questions.
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Yesterday, Audi of America President Scott Keogh held a presentation at the LA Auto Show and he made some interesting comments about the brand’s effort in the electric vehicle space and the future of EVs in general.

Keogh said he expects Audi’s e-tron models, all-electric and plug-in hybrid drivetrains, will represent 25% of all the company’s sales over the next decade.
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Volkswagen’s new board of management issued a new statement this morning highligting its new strategy to come out of the emission scandal. CEO Dr. Herbert Diess about the announcement:

“The Volkswagen brand is repositioning itself for the future. We are becoming more efficient, we are giving our product range and our core technologies a new focus, and we are creating room for forward-looking technologies by speeding up the efficiency program.”

On top of obviously changing its diesel strategy to now comply with American and European standards, the company plans on making significant investments in electric vehicles.
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Earlier this month when Audi unveiled its all-electric SUV, the quattro, some media were quick to dub it a “Tesla killer”, but now that Tesla officially launched its own SUV, I think it’s clear that it was a premature assessment. The quattro is set to have a similar range as the Model X, ~250 EPA-rated miles, but Audi is aiming at releasing the quattro in 2018, while Tesla delivered the first few units yesterday and already has between 25,000 and 30,000 reservations for the all-electric SUV.
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