Audi SUV and EV offensive just starting

Audi will release up to three new or additional SUVs in Australia next year, with the all-new Q2 city-crossover due in early 2017, the new Q5 around mid-year and the all-new Q8 potentially by late 2017. Then in 2018, expect an all-electric Q6 as the brand kicks off its EV roll-out!

The German luxury car maker previously announced its first pure-electric model would be an SUV. Now it's clear that SUV is the Q6 – and it's the first of many.

The battery-powered SUV was previewed most recently by the hydrogen-powered 'h-tron quattro' concept (pictured) at the 2016 Detroit motor show. Senior Audi execs have now confirmed it will not be offered with conventional petrol or diesel engines.

Closely related to the second-generation Q5, which will likely debut at October's Paris motor show before going on sale Down Under next year, the Q6 will be pure EV and equipped to take on the likes of Tesla's Model X.

Before the e-SUV arrives in 2018, however, Audi will also launch a top-shelf Q8 luxury SUV – essentially a coupe version of the latest Q7. This SUV flagship is expected to be revealed late this year in concept form and, like the new Q5, is due on sale globally next year.

All the new SUVs – including the zero-emissions Q6 – can be expected to reach Australian Audi showrooms.

Audi has indicated it will fill every number between Q1 and Q8 in its SUV range and, although it has put on hold production of a Q4 and the TT Offroad concept, it has hinted a pint-size Q1 baby SUV is on the drawing board.

"Now we introduced the Q2, which is one class above the Polo... Let's wait for the success of this car and then we'll see if we have any new ideas," said Audi's new board member for technical development Stefan Knirsch in response to questions about an even smaller SUV.

Speaking at the company's annual press conference in Ingolstadt overnight, Knirsch confirmed Q6 would not be offered with conventional petrol or diesel powertrains.

"No, the platform is also prepared for plug-in electric, but we believe this car should only be a battery-electric vehicle or [in future] a fuel cell vehicle."

Knirsch said the e-SUV would not be based on yet another new platform, but would share the MLB Evo architecture that underpins all future Audis starting with the new Q7 and A4.

"It's not another platform, it's derived from the existing MLB Evo platform," he said.

At the press conference, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler also re-affirmed Audi's commitment to plug-in hybrid and all-electric models.

"We assume that by 2025, we will have a 20 to 25 per cent mix of electric-powered vehicles," he said.

He said plug-in hybrid will be a transitional powertrain technology on the road to battery-electric and hydrogen fuel vehicles.

"Audi is the centre of excellence for fuel cell technology within the Volkswagen Group. We believe the fuel cell, as a zero-emissions technology, will play an important role, but it needs infrastructure.

"Hybrid and plug-in hybrid will be a bridge technology for the next 10 years. We need a global rapid charging network and also hydrogen filling stations," he stated.

Stadler said diesel will remain a vital part of its model mix – particularly in markets like Europe and Australia – despite its bad press in the wake of the #Dieselgate emissions-cheating scandal.

"Diesel is and remains a highly efficient powertrain technology," he said.

Knirsch told motoring.com.au there had been no cut in R&D spending due to #Dieselgate. In fact, he said his technical development budget, which includes motorsport, was up by five per cent – although electrification, digitalisation and connectivity technologies had now been prioritised.

Stadler said R&D spending now accounted for a double-digit percentage of Audi's total investment and will amount to €1b between now and 2020.

He announced that the 2018 SUV EV will be produced in its Brussels plant, which would also make the LG and Samsung batteries that will deliver a driving range of 500km.

The rest of the vehicle's mechanical make-up was previewed by the e-tron quattro concept at the 2015 Frankfurt show.

Equipped with three liquid-cooled electric motors that deliver up to 370kW and 800Nm under hard acceleration (320kW in normal use), the concept car is claimed to sprint to 100km/h in 4.6sec and have a top speed limited at 210km/h.

Its 95kWh lithium-ion battery (mounted beneath the cabin's floor), was claimed to deliver more driving range than any other electric car on the market, and could be fully charged from a 150kW charging column in less than an hour.

Audi's first foray into EVs locally, the A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid, was released in 2015. It will be followed later this year by the Q7 TDI e-tron.

"We'd evaluate every model that's available to us on its merits and depending whether or not we thought customers would be interested," said Audi Australia's general manager of corporate communications Anna Burgdorf.

"If we could get the right package at the right price in Australia, there would be no reason not to offer it. If customers want it without [government] incentives then we'd seriously look at it," Burgdorf stated.