Audi is about to foray into the growing electric car market. The auto brand’s top executives have approved production of the A9 E-tron thus expanding the EV lineup further.
The approval was made by Rubert Stadler, head of Audi. The A9 e-tron is scheduled to go into production by 2018 and will hit dealership stores 2020. Tesla’s first ever Model S sedan is the direct competitor for this upcoming Audi model. If they are going to be the next Model S, the car will definitely be expensive and is not going to be affordable like the Model 3. Audi is going to go all the way into the EV market by integrating the best battery and the most powerful electric motor in the e-tron to extract maximum power.
“The new model will be on the top of the lineup, probably close to the A8 and will compete all the elite cars available in stores by the time. We are quite interested in pushing the auto industry into the next level and electric cars seem to be the way to do so,” commented Stadler during his interview to an auto magazine. While he didn’t explicitly confirm it, the upcoming Audi A9 E-tron will also compete with the Mercedes Benz S-Class along with Tesla models.
It is expected that the upcoming A9 E-tron will be constructed on the platform Audi uses for all its newest electric cars. The first version of the A9 could be named as the Q6 and will arrive as early as 2018. A revamped, luxury version of the same electric model will arrive by 2020. Styling and performance of the Q6 e-tron is expected to be inspired by the e-tron Quattro concept mode. Audi launched it at the Frankfurt motor show last year and it was positively embraced by the public.
While official details are sparse, rumors claimed that the Audi A9 e-tron will have at least three different electric motors and a powerful battery which can go more than 300 miles on a single charge. The car will be the first of few to receive Audi’s proprietary autonomous driving features.
Known as the level four technology, the model will be responsive and can automatically find its way through dense traffic. The self-driving capability in the car can not only handle highway traffic but can commute to your office, supermarket or other locations. Audi is highly confident of it as they have time to tweak the feature before it goes live.