Audi e-tron : India-Bound All-Electric SUV In Detailed Pictures

Audi India showcased its first all-electric SUV, the e-tron, recently. It will be the first all-electric luxury car in the market when launched either by end-2019 or early-2020. The e-tron SUV is built at Audi’s CO2 neutral factory in Brussels, Belgium and will be imported via the CBU route. Here’s a detailed look at how the e-tron SUV looks in the flesh.

At first impressions, the e-tron SUV looks every bit like a typical Audi. At the front, the e-tron sports a huge hexagonal grille with four vertical chrome slats and a skid plate at the bottom.

The e-tron gets sleek LED headlamps with LED DRLs wrapped around the headlamp area. It also gets four horizontal mini DRLs below the headlamps.

Audi claims that the e-tron has an aerodynamic body with a drag coefficient of only 0.27 cd. It gets a sleek look with chrome strips along the side windows and a haunch that starts form the rear door that flows cleanly to the boot. With a length of 4901mm, the e-tron isn’t bigger than the Q7 nor smaller than the Q5. However, it has a longer wheelbase compared to the Q5, which helps in freeing up more room inside.

One of the main highlights of the e-tron is its clean, stylish and large five-spoke alloy wheels that set the electric SUV apart from the rest. The alloy wheels are available in 20-inch and 21-inch options, with the former being offered as standard in India. 

At the rear, the e-tron SUV gets a connected LED tail lamp strip. A rear chrome skid plate rounds off the look of the rear.

The all-electric SUV also features Audi’s trademark quattro all-wheel-drive system, but uses the torque split feature of the motors rather than locking differentials.

One of the key highlights of the e-tron are the cameras in place of traditional OVRMs. These are connected to screens on the door pads. The rear view itself can be customised on the particular screen to suit the drivers needs, which is a huge step towards the future. This setup improves the overall aerodynamics of the SUV.

Here’s a closer look of how the rear view camera will work from the interior. The rear view camera sports three different modes- City, Highway and Kerb. The ‘City’ mode gives a narrower field of vision whereas the ‘Highway’ mode gives a wider field of vision. The ‘Kerb’ mode shows what is next to the car for parking purposes.

On the inside, the Audi e-tron features straight lines everywhere. It is filled to the brim with various comfort-enhancing features, including 12-way heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic moonroof, massage seats, power door closers and leather upholstery.

The e-tron gets the Audi’s trademark Virtual Cockpit digital instrument console which displays a plethora of information along with navigation and multimedia displays.

At the centre of the Audi e-tron’s dashboard lies two huge digital screens that houses various controls. The upper one is a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen system that features Amazon Alexa voice control, navigation, Apple CarPlay as well as Android Auto. Below this sits a smaller 8.6-inch touchscreen that houses the controls for various functions such as drive modes, climate control, and more.

The Audi e-tron gets safety features like ABS, stability control, front, side and overhead airbags, seatbelt pretensioners and an anti-theft system. Other features include a Bang & Olufsen sound system and an available Driver Assistance package with enhanced adaptive cruise control, automatic parking assist and night vision.

The Audi e-tron scores in practicality with a massive 660-litre boot that surprisingly features a spare tyre underneath the floor.

Under the hood, the Audi e-tron SUV is powered by two electric motors - one on the front axle and one on the rear. Combined, they churn out a power output of 360PS and propel the Audi e-tron from 0-100kmph in 6 seconds. It also has a boost mode where the electric motors churn out an additional 48PS and reduce the 0-100kmph time by 0.3 seconds. Another interesting bit from under the hood is that there is a 60-litre storage unit present here to store the charging cables.

The e-tron’s electric motors are fueled by a 95kWh 36-module battery pack that’s located on the floor. Audi will offer a fast charger for customers if optioned, while a slower home charger will be offered as standard. The fast charger supports charging speeds of up to 150kW and can juice up the battery from zero to 80 per cent in just thirty minutes. Audi also claims that the e-tron can do up to 88km on a 10-minute charge. As far as range is concerned, the e-tron can do about 400km on a full charge.

The Audi e-tron is expected to launch by the end of this year. It currently does not have any competitors in India. However, it competes with the likes of the Tesla Model X in international markets. Audi is also expected to showcase the 2019 A8 and Q8 in the country around the same timeframe.