Is this the face of future electric Audis? The German carmaker is known to be keen to expand its current plugin-hybrid e-Tron brand into fully electric territory, and it is expected that alongside the just-launched R8 e-Tron sports car, the first all-electric Audis will be spun off from the Q7 SUV.
Audi will preview this new range of battery cars with a C-BEV concept due to be unveiled at the upcoming Frankfurt motor show, and German magazine Auto Motor und Sport is claiming that these rendered images are the first peek at both that concept, and the Q6 e-Tron that will eventually become the production version.
Looking very much like a squashed and stretched Q7, the C-BEV will lose that car’s third-row seats to make room under the floor for an enormous stack of batteries, necessary if Audi is to hit its promises of “at least 500km.”
Three motors
The C-BEV will use three electric motors apparently, one for each axle and one integrated with the reduction gearbox. Audi has made noises to the tune that the car will develop a massive 500hp and will have a 0-100km/h run time of less than 4 seconds.
The MLB platform on which it sits, also found under the just-launched Q7, will undergo some significant modification for its duties as an electric car chassis. Expect to see a higher proportion of aluminium, high-strength steel and carbon-fibre as Audi chases the sport of weight savings that BMW has been able to achieve with its i-range.
Back in March, Audi's redoubtable R&D boss Ulrich Hackenberg spoke of getting the Q6 on sale by 2018, with its 500hp and 500km range intact.
The appearance of these images, and the near-production-ready body they suggest, could mean that a truly practical all-electric Audi SUV is even closer than that.
