Last year, Audiannounced that it would introduce 20 electrified vehicles by 2025. The German carmaker also said that 12 out of the 20 would be pure electric vehicles (EVs) and promised that the first three would be built from the ground up and ready to hit dealerships by 2018. As fast as it approaches the deadline it has set for itself, the company’s first EV, the e-Tron, is set to be launched on March 15.
The e-Tron was first showcased as a concept at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show. The production version of the e-Tron will be available in two body styles - a conventional SUV and a sportback coupe. Although Audi did not reveal the markets where the e-Tron would initially go on sale, it did open up bookings in Norway, the fastest adopter of EVs in the world, a year back. The e-Tron Quattro, the carmaker says, will have a range of 500km and is built on the same platform asPorsche’s rival to Tesla’s range of cars, the upcoming Mission E.
The performance numbers from Audi claim that the e-Tron can hit 100kmph from a standstill in 4.5 seconds. While the SUV is expected to pack 435PS of power, the sportback coupe will produce 503PS from it three electric motors. It is expected to rival the Tesla Model X and the Jaguar I-Pace. As for the prices, Audi is likely to position to the e-Tron Quattro in between the Q5 and the Q7.
Hence, expect it to be priced between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. Rahil Ansari, the head of Audi India, announced last year that it won’t be a problem for the company to bring its all-electric fleet to India in quick succession to their global launches if there is a demand for such cars and an improvement in infrastructure required to run them.
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