SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Audi Q7 e-tron 2.0 TFSI Quattro

Audi raised eyebrows in Geneva by pairing the electric drive of its Q7 e-tron with a turbo-diesel engine.

Now it’s gone back to the tried-and-trusty way of doing a plug-in hybrid for the Shanghai motor show, pairing lithium-ion battery tanks with electric power and a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine for the Q7.

The Q7 e-tron 2.0 TFSI Quattro won’t, though, be headed here anytime soon. Instead, it’s been developed specifically for China, Japan and Singapore. But mostly for China, where privately owned diesel cars are rarer than they are in the US.

It does mark some technical landmarks for Audi, because it’s the first time the TFSI plug-in hybrid system has been matched with all-wheel drive and it can still cover 53km as a pure-electric car before it will need either a power socket or some help from the petrol engine.

Audi claims the combination, which will be on sale in Asia from early next year, will stretch out to a 1020km range on a tank of petrol, thanks to its ability to use just 2.5L/100km on the NEDC combined cycle. That’s less than 60g/km for CO2 emissions.

It will still accelerate the big Q7 to 100km/h in less than six seconds and it has a 220km/h top speed, thanks largely to a system output of 270kW of power and a convincing 700Nm of torque. 

The rest of the package delivers more of the same from the new Q7, though the integrated heat pump in its thermal management system is new and reserved for plug-in hybrids only.

But the Q7 e-tron 2.0 TFSI Quattro isn’t the only Audi designed with China uppermost in mind. It is also showing the A6 L e-tron (pictured here in blue), which is exclusive for the Chinese market.

Derived from the Chinese-built long-wheelbase version of the A6, the A6 L e-tron has been engineered to meet the Chinese definition of a New Energy Vehicle, with the ability to cover 50km as a pure electric vehicle.

The plug-in hybrid weighs more than 2000kg, yet consumes only 2.2L/100km on the combined cycle and emits only 52g/km of CO2/km.

It’s not the fastest A6 out there, though, taking 8.4 seconds to reach 100km/h and its top speed is limited to 210km/h, though that’s more than enough for China.

Audi claims a total range of 880km from the A6 L e-tron, which uses a combination of a 155kW/350Nm version of the 2.0-litre, direct-and-indirect injection turbocharged four-cylinder engine. There is a 91kW/220Nm electric motor, along with a decoupler, fitted into the car’s eight-speed automatic transmission.

That gives it a system output of 180kW and 500Nm, while its 104-cell lithium-ion battery stores the same 14.1kWh as the Q7 e-tron Quattro, and is mounted under the boot floor, shrinking its capacity to 337 litres.

It will recharge in two hours from a 7.2kW two-phase charger, though China’s domestic power grid will take eight hours to recharge it.

Unlike the Q7 e-tron Quattro, the A6 L e-tron is front-drive only, and will drive as a full electric car at up to 135km/h.

The A6 L e-tron will be built by the Volkswagen Group’s joint-venture company in Changchun, in China’s north, and will be on sale there in 2016.