A new, entry-level Audi EV is in the works. It is expected to debut in 2027 and is tipped to be a mix between the current A3 and Q3, allowing the brand to cash in on ever-growing demand for small electric crossovers and SUVs.
Audi plans to have 20 fully electric vehicles in its range by 2025 and from 2026, will only introduce battery-electric vehicles to the market. Chief executive Gernot Döllner said the new entry-level model will benefit from an accelerated development time of just three years and described it as sitting below the current Q4 e-tron.
“It will be a wonderful, unique independent vehicle concept, produced in Ingolstadt, and it will be something we can all look forward to,” Döllner told Autocar while speaking about the new model.
Read: New Audi Q4 55 e-Tron Replaces 50 With 40 HP Boost And Enhanced Range
Few other details are known about the vehicle. Audi’s former technical chief Oliver Hoffman has previously suggested the car could be underpinned by the VW Group’s MEB EV platform rather than the PPE architecture from Audi itself. However, Döllner says a final decision on which platform to use has yet to be taken.
Although this new model will be smaller and cheaper than other Audi EVs, it will not serve as an electric successor to the A1.
“This is not a four-meter car,” Döllner said. “I’m not that dogmatic. We won’t have a successor for the A1 or Q2, not a direct successor. But with the model below [the] Q4 in the [A3] segment, that will be definitely our entry-level car.”
With Audi reserving its even numbers for the names of its EVs, this new model may be badged the Q2. If that’s indeed the case, the new model will be distinct from the current Q2, which Audi says won’t live on to see a second generation.
We first heard about Audi’s planned base EV last year. At that time, the model was thought to be offered as a four-door hatchback and a four-door sedan but it now seems that a higher-riding profile is more likely.
