Next all-electric Audi R8 to ride on new supercar platform

Audi Sport has begun developing the all-new replacement for its current Audi R8, with reports suggesting the supercar is all set for bespoke treatment.

To keep development costs down, engineers were expected to be forced to adapt a current Volkswagen Group all-electric architecture like the MEB (ID.3) platform or the next-generation PPE platform that underpins the Audi Q6 e-tron.

However, Audi tech boss Oliver Hoffmann has revealed that will no longer be the case.

Instead, Hoffman has told Autocar that Audi Sport would go ahead and invest in a new bespoke architecture that would use elements of the VW Group’s forthcoming SSP platform that isn’t due to be launched until 2027.

“I’m talking about iconic cars – sports cars and so on,” said Hoffmann. “We will use systems and modules out of the [SSP] platform, or toolkit, and there is some space to bring cars out of the platform. For these cars, we will use modules or systems from the platforms.”

Hoffmann didn’t confirm when the all-new, zero-emissions R8 would land, but did say that in the next two years Audi would launch 20 new models and that half of those would be battery-electric – a hint that the flagship supercar could be on sale by 2026.

The SSP architecture will eventually underpin around 80 per cent of all vehicles across the entire Volkswagen Group. Importantly, those volumes and shared costs will allow Audi and other high-end VW-owned brands such as Lamborghini to invest in individual platforms based off the core platform.

Not that SSP won’t be capable of delivering the level of performance needed for supercars – far from it. VW Group CEO Oliver Blume has already declared that it could support electric motors that will produce up to 1300kW.

The R8 needs bespoke treatment because the SSP skateboard platform positions the batteries beneath the floor between the axles, forcing the driver to sit too high for a low-slung supercar.

Repositioning the heavy batteries mid-ship also helps with dynamic performance.

The first SSP-based vehicle will be Porsche’s flagship large SUV that’s being developed under the ‘K1’ codename.

Designed to sit above the Cayenne, the K1 will offer three rows of seating and rival both the BMW iX and the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV.

Tipped to introduce VW Group’s next-gen 920-volt electrical architecture, the K1 will be powered by a 100kWh battery with new chemistry that will provide for a range of 700km on the WLTP test cycle.

A 5-80 per cent charge is also set to be completed in less than 20 minutes, with the K1 offering the fastest charging in the VW Group.

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