If you liked Audi’s e-tron quattro concept study from the Frankfurt Motor Show, then you’ll be happy to know that the Ingolstadt company will build a fully-electric production version of it.
Audi announced its plans to manufacture its “first purely electric driven SUV” at its Brussels plant, beginning in 2018 – with the batteries being made “in-house” in the same place. The sporty SUV, which will be called Q6, will be heavy influenced by the e-tron quattro concept and, according to Audi, will fit between the Q7 and Q5 models in the car maker’s portfolio. You can think of it as an electric BMW X6.
The model will be equipped with three electric motors (one on the front axle and two on the rear) and a high capacity, lithium-ion battery, capable of offering more than 500 Km (311 miles) of autonomy from a single charge – as Audi says – while producing nearly 500 hp.
As of now, the Brussels plant produces Audi’s smallest model, the A1, however, the manufacturing process will be moved to another factory in order to make room for the future Q6. The price of the upcoming car is unknown for now, however, judging by the technology used by Audi, it could go higher than the car maker’s current SUV offerings.