INSIDE E-TRON

Insights into the German approach to developing a premium-class EV.

Audi has made its ambitious electromobility goals clear, saying it will offer 10 all-electric and 10 plug-in hybrid models by 2025, accounting for at least one-third of its sales. To help achieve this, the company carefully designed the all-new 2019 Audi e-tron luxury SUV to not alienate its core audience. As engineer Anno Mertens, Audi's product manager for electrification put it: “In the end, it's an Audi, it's not an electric car.”

Audi's target for the e-tron (yes, the name is all lower case) is the same SUV buyer who might also have shopped for a Q7, Mertens said (the e-tron's wheelbase sits between the Q5 and Q7 in Audi's SUV lineup). To that end, early in the development process, Audi surveyed its customer base to learn just what kind of EV they would use. The questions included how many business trips they take and whether they live in detached homes or in multi-family dwellings.