Audi will add a new flagship electric SUV to its line-up in the guise of the Q8 E-Tron, expected to launch soon after 2025.
No official images have surfaced yet, but we can expect similar styling to the current crop of Audi electric vehicles – which have slim headlamps, a fully-covered grille, and hulking proportions similar to those of the Q4 E-Tron, although much bigger in the Q8’s case.
The performance will come courtesy of Quattro dual motors producing in excess of 370kW if the base model E-Tron GT is anything to go by (and at least 390kW on ‘overboost’), with a performance RS variant potentially bringing around 500kW and thumping acceleration from the big electric SUV.
Audi’s E-Tron
Providing the juice will be a large battery nearing 100kWh and enabling a driving range over 600 kilometres in normal circumstances, and perhaps even more with the advances Audi is making in battery technology.
Most likely to based on the latest PPE platform developed in conjunction with Porsche, which underpins the upcoming Audi Q6 e-tron, it should have an advanced 800-volt electric system compatible with DC rapid charging speeds of up to 270kW. Such voltage will help provide five to 80 per cent charge in less than 25 minutes.
Audi E-Tron GT
The latest advanced technology from Audi will be inside too, and styling could be inspired by the Grandsphere concept shown earlier this year at the Munich motor show – a vehicle which featured a revolutionary cockpit.
Although it likely won’t be fully implemented in the Q8 e-tron, newly developed MMI touchless response systems, gesture controls for climate functions and Level 3 driverless systems could all become standard equipment.
In line with the rest of the E-Tron range, the Q8 E-Tron is due to be built on Audi’s production line in Brussels rather than in Ingolstadt, Germany, where the Q6 will be produced.
Keyword: Audi Q8 E-Tron to arrive after 2025