The announcements came out of the Audi presentation at this year’s Los Angeles global Auto Show. It would be priced in the luxury stratum and for now it is being referred to as the C-BEV.
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Audi will build its position in electric vehicle technology with the launch of the A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid later this year.
“Audi’s not a half-measure brand”.
“When you look at what needs to happen and you look at what we see happening in the marketplace, we’re probably looking at a world where 25 percent of Audi’s sales, over the next ten years, just to throw out a rough point in the future, are either going to be full electric or have a few plug”, Keogh said.
Other moves that Audi has taken to make itself known in the EV market include Wednesday’s introduction of the e-tron Quattro SUV, which it plans to make available by 2018, as well as the development of a nationwide charging network that would supply an 80 percent charge for the auto in only 30 minutes.
That is not a huge amount, especially considering that in 2014 alone, Audi clocked up sales of over 180,000 vehicles in USA and that Keogh is aiming to make electric cars 25% of that total within the next 10 years. “You’re not going to get broad acceptance unless you put vehicles in the market where the mainstream audience is”.
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It also notes that while uptake has been positive in the U.S., low fuel prices and a lack of infrastructure and vehicle style – the Tesla Model X is the only full electric SUV available in the country – means that even by 2025, the USA is only expected to account for 800,000 electric vehicles, or 16% of forecast global sales.
