Production of Audi’s first stand-alone electric model, the E-tron SUV, will begin later this year using what the company claims is a carbon neutral production process. Audi has said that its Brussels factory, where the car will be built, has been certified as CO2 neutral. The site uses renewable energy and offsets its carbon to enable what the brand claims is a waste-free process.
This will substantially boost the E-tron’s well-to-wheel sustainability, giving the car, which is due on roads in early 2019, an edge, environmentally speaking, over its electric rivals and setting a new bar for premium segment car manufacturers. The production E-tron will be revealed at the Brussels motor show on 30 August, as the first of three battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that Audi will launch by 2021.
By 2025, the company promises to have 20 electrified models on sale, with half of those being BEVs. The E-tron is predicted to have a range of at least 500km (311 miles) and is built on a development of the electrified platform that Porsche is using for its Mission E electric saloon. It’s powered by three electric motors, with two driving the rear wheels and the other powering the fronts.
This set-up was used in the E-tron quattro concept, which was said to provide maximum combined outputs of 496bhp and 590lb ft, a 0-100km/h time of 4.5sec and a restricted top speed of 220km/h a preview of what’s to come with the production model.
