Audi E-Tron Sportback Production to Start in 2019
The second e-Tron model in Audi’s growing fleet of electric vehicles will be built at the brand’s Brussels factory, starting in 2019.
“With the decision on the Audi e-tron Sportback, we are showing that Audi takes the issue of electric mobility seriously,” said Dr. Hubert Waltl, head of logistics. “A second battery-electric model will lead to optimal capacity utilization at our plant in Brussels.”
The e-Tron Sportback will join the standard e-Tron in Audi’s EV lineup – an all-electric SUV set to start rolling out of the same factory in 2018.
First revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show in April, the e-Tron Sportback is a sleek grand coupe with four doors. The concept arrived with 430 hp (or up to 500 hp in boost mode) and, naturally, all-wheel drive.
SEE ALSO: Audi Will Debut a New Electric Crossover Coupe in 2019
With a low center of gravity, thanks to its low-mounted liquid cooled lithium-ion batteries and, the e-Tron Sportback concept was good for a 0-62 time of just 4.5 seconds. Along with the performance, Audi’s second EV was expected to go 310 miles on a charge.
The e-Tron (this is the SUV now), meanwhile, is being touted by Audi as the first real premium SUV powered exclusively by electricity, a claim that, along with a recent Berliner billboard, targets Tesla directly.
The e-Tron Sportback is the second of three electric cars Audi said it will produce by 2020.
A version of this story originally appeared on Fourtitude
Discuss this story on our Audi Forum
Sebastien is a roving reporter who covers Euros, domestics, and all things enthusiast. He has been writing about the automotive industry for four years and obsessed with it his whole life. He studied English at the Wilfrid Laurier University. Sebastien also edits for AutoGuide's sister sites VW Vortex, Fourtitude, Swedespeed, GM Inside News, All Ford Mustangs, and more.
More by Sebastien Bell
Comments
Join the conversation