Audi is readying the production version of its very-first all-electric SUV coming later this year, and they’re quite excited by the whole thing, naturally. The E-tron marks a momentous transition for the company as it moves towards electric mobility, with the E-tron being the first ground-up electric car for the company that prides itself on engineering excellence.
Ahead of its debut in August, the E-tron has been spotted being put through its faces around the infamous Nurburgring circuit in Germany, a favoured testing ground for manufacturers to collect data and tune upcoming models for greater agility and performance.
With 400km of range on offer per full charge, the E-tron aims to not only be a great urban companion, but also one that you can take long-distance without getting too anxious about range. The E-tron is purportedly capable of handling charge rates of as much as 150kW, which Audi says will allow the car to cover “the next long-stage of its journey” with as little as 30-minutes recharging at that rate. Ingolstadt didn’t go as far as to say just how many kilometres a 30-minute charge equates to, but we can only assume it’s quite a bit.
What is certain though is that 150kW charging would only be available via a high-power DC charger (HPC). Audi themselves have claimed that by the end of 2019 there will be some 200 HPC stations around the European continent, each with six chargers, making a grand total of 1200 HPCs.
Of course, HPCs won’t be the only way to charge your E-tron. The E-tron will be able to accept charges from conventional AC points too. Owners will be able to choose between two charging systems, those being a standard 11kW system or an optional 22kW system, as well as the ubiquitous 2.3kW charging option via a standard plug socket.
The 11kW charge rate is achievable with the charger hooked up to a 400V three-phase power connection. At that rate, an E-tron can be charged to full from flat in just 8.5-hours. However, the optional dual-charger system that offers 22kW will shorten that time significantly by using two charge points instead of one. Of course, charge monitoring will be enabled via the myAudi smartphone application, though which you will also be able to preset the climate control and pre-condition your car ahead of your scheduled journey.
The Audi E-tron electric SUV is expected to make its official market debut in Europe later this year, and will arrive ready to do battle with the present EV-SUV sweetheart, the Jaguar I-Pace. And for those who believe that electric crossovers are allowed to be ugly, there’s also the Tesla Model X to consider.
For more information on Audi, check out our Showroom.
