The production of the Audi Q4 e-tron has started—the first electric SUV to be produced by Audi in Germany. The Q4 e-tron features a Volkswagen-made modular electric drive matrix (MEB), a highly versatile and variable platform that is suitable for numerous fully electric models and offers considerable scope for leveraging synergies.
The compact electric SUV will be unveiled next month and launched on the European markets this summer, adding thrust to Audi’s electric-drive drive. By 2025, Audi plan to launch more than 20 fully electric models and expand their PHEV offering. The two main Audi plants, in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, also are set to manufacture fully electric vehicles; early next year the first model based on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), developed jointly with Porsche, will start production at Ingolstadt.
The Q4 e-tron is described as electric premium mobility at an attractive price. It offers almost as much interior space as a full-size SUV, and the display concept, with an optional augmented-reality HUD, is also pioneering in its class.
Audi are working to further minimise CO2 emissions in the value chain, and production of the Q4 e-tron will be carbon-neutral; the Zwickau plant covers its entire energy needs using renewables, and has a highly efficient combined heat and power plant. When the Q4 e-tron reaches the end of its service life, its battery will be used in second-life concepts or recycled as a source of raw materials.
