Photo: Audi
Judging by the way in which Audi has kept itself away from the electric car frenzy, one might have thought that when these guys are done with their years-long research, something remarkable will happen.
For a while now, Audi’s e-tron SUV has been seen testing on various roads across Europe. It will be built in Belgium, in Ghent, at the same factory that will roll off Chinese Lynk & Co vehicles.
Until now, the rumor was that the battery of the EV would be of about 95 kWh, giving the SUV a range of 300 miles (482 km). That said, hopes were that something even better might be presented.
Unfortunately, it’s worse than the rumors. On Friday, Audi let loose the first details on the battery that will be used on the e-tron model: 95 kW, just as expected, but a range of only 248 miles (400 km) in WLTP.
To soften the blow, Audi nicely wrapped the entire revelation in a Faraday cage. More precisely, it took the e-tron SUV at the Siemens high-voltage test bay in Berlin, stuck it in and tried to change the subject.
What blow, you ask? There are currently only two other electric SUVs on the global market, Tesla’s Model X and Jaguar’s I-Pace. The former has a range of 295 miles (474 km), and the latter 298 miles (480 km). More than the e-tron, so how is a carmaker to make the spotlight fall somewhere else?
By talking about charging capabilities, of course. In an average-length press release, Audi goes on and on how its customers will be able to juice their vehicles up from chargers ranging from 11 kW to 150 kW. It then goes to claim its e-tron would be “the first car on the market that can be charged with up to 150 kW,” meaning a driver could have the battery at full capacity in just 30 minutes.
So that you know, Jaguar promised a charging time of 40 minutes on the I-Pace with a 100 kW charger.
So what did we get from this long-awaited Audi-revelation? A very nice photo gallery and that’s about it.
Until now, the rumor was that the battery of the EV would be of about 95 kWh, giving the SUV a range of 300 miles (482 km). That said, hopes were that something even better might be presented.
Unfortunately, it’s worse than the rumors. On Friday, Audi let loose the first details on the battery that will be used on the e-tron model: 95 kW, just as expected, but a range of only 248 miles (400 km) in WLTP.
To soften the blow, Audi nicely wrapped the entire revelation in a Faraday cage. More precisely, it took the e-tron SUV at the Siemens high-voltage test bay in Berlin, stuck it in and tried to change the subject.
What blow, you ask? There are currently only two other electric SUVs on the global market, Tesla’s Model X and Jaguar’s I-Pace. The former has a range of 295 miles (474 km), and the latter 298 miles (480 km). More than the e-tron, so how is a carmaker to make the spotlight fall somewhere else?
By talking about charging capabilities, of course. In an average-length press release, Audi goes on and on how its customers will be able to juice their vehicles up from chargers ranging from 11 kW to 150 kW. It then goes to claim its e-tron would be “the first car on the market that can be charged with up to 150 kW,” meaning a driver could have the battery at full capacity in just 30 minutes.
So that you know, Jaguar promised a charging time of 40 minutes on the I-Pace with a 100 kW charger.
So what did we get from this long-awaited Audi-revelation? A very nice photo gallery and that’s about it.
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