Audi launches its new all electric Q4 e-tron concept

German automaker, Audi, provided the first look of the Q4 e-tron concept, a compact four-door all-electric SUV with an exterior length of 4.59 metres whose relation to the Audi e-tron is apparent at first glance.

Two electric motors mobilise 225 kW of system power in the Q4 e-tron concept. As is typical for Audi, the driving power of the concept vehicle is brought to the road with quattro all-wheel drive. It accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.3 seconds. It reaches its maximum speed at an electronically limited 180 km/h.

A large battery with a capacity of 82 kilowatt hours takes up almost the entire space in the underbody area between the axles. The range of over 450 kilometres - in line with the WLTP standard - sets the benchmark in its class. The technology of the Q4 e-tron concept controls the modular electrification platform (MEB) that will be integrated in numerous electric vehicles produced by the Volkswagen Group in the future, from the compact class to the superior medium-size class.

The Audi Q4 e-tron concept gives an advance look at what will already be the fifth series production electric vehicle that the manufacturer will introduce by the end of 2020. Sales of the Audi e-tron have already started, and the first vehicles will be delivered to the customers before the end of March 2019.

Later this year, the Audi e-tron Sportback will be presented, and the Audi Q2L e-tron, which was designed specifically for the Chinese market, will roll off the assembly line. The presentation of the production version of the four-door high-performance coupé Audi e-tron GT, which is being developed at Audi Sport GmbH, is planned for the second half of 2020.

The compact Audi Q4 e-tron is to make its production debut at the same time. With this offer, Audi now covers all important market segments with all-electric drive vehicles, from the A segment to the full-size class, just under two years after the launch of the first electric car.

The Q4 e-tron concept is identifiable as an Audi at first glance by the Singleframe with the brand logo, the four rings. And it will take no more than two glances to see that this is an electric Audi e-tron: Like the first production Audi with electric drive, the new concept vehicle also features a structured closed surface within a broad, almost upright octagonal frame in place of a traditional radiator grille. Air is supplied via large inlets that extend from below the two matrix LED headlights all the way down to the front apron.

The performance version of the electric drive is installed in the Audi Q4 e-tron concept. The front and rear axles are each powered by an electric motor - the Q4 is a quattro. There is no mechanical connection between the axles. Instead, an electronic control ensures that the torque distribution is coordinated optimally, and it does so in fractions of a second. That enables the electric SUV to achieve optimum traction in all weather conditions and on any type of surface.

In most cases, the Audi Q4 e-tron concept mainly uses its rear electric motor, a permanently excited synchronous motor, in order to achieve the highest efficiency. For reasons of efficiency, the drive torque is generally distributed with a rear-axle bias. If the driver demands more power than the rear electric motor can supply, the electric all-wheel drive uses the front asynchronous motor to redistribute the torque as required to the front axle.

The electric motor in the rear end has an output of 150 kW and mobilizes a torque of 310 newton meters; the front engine supplies the front wheels with up to 75 kW and 150 newton meters. The system power is 225 kW. The battery in the vehicle floor stores 82 kilowatt hours, which allows for a range of more than 450 kilometers according to the WLTP standard. The battery is charged with a maximum of 125 kilowatts. As a result, it takes hardly more than 30 minutes to return to 80% of the total capacity.
By 2025, Audi expects to offer twelve automobiles with all-electric drive in the most important markets worldwide and achieve roughly one-third of its sales with electrified models.