Photo: Audi
The R8-based e-tron saga did not end all that great for the brand with four rings. After attempting with two different overpriced versions to capture at least part of the market created by Tesla back in the late 2000s, Audi gave up, more or less, and went back to the drawing board.
The failure to make the e-tron a supercar electric hit was not due to bad technology, but bad everything else, from marketing to pricing. For the new e-tron family, currently under development, Audi is however not taking any chances.
No less than 250 development vehicles for the e-tron range will be tested this year in various conditions, in travels than will take them on a trip of more than five million kilometers (3,106,856 miles) on four continents.
It’s not clear why Audi needs to test so many cars for so many miles. Other carmakers have tested EVs and are for several years now selling them on the world market. Based on what Audi said in Geneva this week, they’d better have some ground breaking technology underpinning the e-tron models.
The second e-tron models would see daylight no sooner than 2020, including the production version of the Audi e-tron Sportback concept. By 2025, the number of e-trons is expected to increase to 20.
“Audi sets an important milestone for the company’s future with its first purely electrically powered model,” said Rupert Stadler, Audi’s chairman said, apparently forgetting all about the R8 e-tron and the failed attempts to sell it.
“We will be launching more than 20 electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2025 - spread across all segments and concepts.”
Meanwhile, a few e-tron models, including the SUV, are in Geneva for the local auto show. For the occasion, the e-tron SUV participated in a photo shoot, available in the attached gallery above. Its production version should be unveiled in the next couple of months.
No less than 250 development vehicles for the e-tron range will be tested this year in various conditions, in travels than will take them on a trip of more than five million kilometers (3,106,856 miles) on four continents.
It’s not clear why Audi needs to test so many cars for so many miles. Other carmakers have tested EVs and are for several years now selling them on the world market. Based on what Audi said in Geneva this week, they’d better have some ground breaking technology underpinning the e-tron models.
The second e-tron models would see daylight no sooner than 2020, including the production version of the Audi e-tron Sportback concept. By 2025, the number of e-trons is expected to increase to 20.
“Audi sets an important milestone for the company’s future with its first purely electrically powered model,” said Rupert Stadler, Audi’s chairman said, apparently forgetting all about the R8 e-tron and the failed attempts to sell it.
“We will be launching more than 20 electric cars and plug-in hybrids by 2025 - spread across all segments and concepts.”
Meanwhile, a few e-tron models, including the SUV, are in Geneva for the local auto show. For the occasion, the e-tron SUV participated in a photo shoot, available in the attached gallery above. Its production version should be unveiled in the next couple of months.
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