Tesla's offensive in the premium electric segment could not go unanswered for much longer. Now it was Audi's turn to announce plans for its electric offensive for the next few years, confirming the Audi A9 e-tron.
Rupert Stadler, Audi CEO, has already said “OK” to the production of a 100% electric luxury saloon: the Audi A9 e-tron. An unprecedented model that, according to the official, will be on sale in 2020. When it reaches the market, the Audi A9 e-tron will face the installed competition of the Tesla Model S and certainly competition from other proposals from the more usual competition to the Ingolstadt brand : Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and BMW.
According to Autocar, the A9 e-tron will share its technological base with the SUV Q6 e-tron (which is scheduled for launch in 2018). Namely the three electric motors (one on the front axle and another two on the rear wheels) and also the platform. As for the numbers, it advances a maximum power that should exceed 500 hp (in sports mode) and a maximum torque of 800 Nm. The expected autonomy is about 500 km.
In the images: Audi Prologue Concept
“In 2020 we will have three 100% electric models”, said Rupert Stadler, to Autocar. The goal according to this responsible is that "by 2025, 25 percent of our range will be electric". Audi also promises a driving experience differentiated from the competition, thanks to the specific adjustments of the quattro system that will be adopted in the electric models and the technology adopted in the engines. “Some opponents have opted for high-powered synchronous engines, but at relatively low revs,” explained Audi's head of research and development, Stefan Knirsch. Audi will follow a different path, turning to asynchronous engines “which typically achieve similar power levels but at much higher revs. We are convinced that they offer higher efficiency levels than synchronous motors”.
"Installed powers" response to Tesla
Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Lexus, Volvo, BMW – just to mention the premium references. All of them are brands with tens of years of history – in some cases even with more than a hundred years of history – and all of them were olympically pressed against the rope by a freshman, Tesla. This North American brand has not "arrived, seen and won" only because it has yet to prove the sustainability of its business model. Still, doubts aside, the truth is that "from scratch" Tesla managed to assert itself among consumers as the reference in electric models. It was a tremendous shake to the foundations of the automobile industry!A shakeup to which the big brands, used to spending hundreds of millions of euros on the development of complex internal combustion engines, have been slow to respond. Could it be that they have been in denial all this time and that the immediate future is, after all, electric vehicles? The answer is no. We believe that the life of internal combustion engines and their development is not yet exhausted. Tesla simply knew how to take advantage of the technological simplicity of electric cars, which apart from battery systems (which can be solved using external suppliers) is simpler, more accessible and less expensive.
It remains to be seen whether Tesla will continue its reign over lands-yet-had-not-been-reclaimed, when the giants of the automobile industry bring their full weight to this segment. Tesla has at least two more years to truly establish itself in the market and gain strength, if not, it risks perishing before the power, experience and knowledge of the brands that currently lead the world car market.