Audi will start producing its third electric car shortly before the end of the year. The e-tron GT will soon come off the production line in the Böllinger Höfe at Neckarsulm. The production of the Gran Turismo is carbon-neutral, the manufacturer emphasizes. Orders will be accepted from spring 2021. There is not yet a specific date for the start of delivery.
“After the locations in Brussels and Györ, the Böllinger Höfe are now the first Audi production facility in Germany in which we have carbon-neutral production. This is an important milestone for the Neckarsulm location and a further step on our way to CO2-neutral production locations worldwide by 2025 ”, says Peter Kössler, Board Member for Production and Logistics. Since the beginning of 2020, the Neckarsulm site has been using only green electricity. A block-type thermal power station operated with biogas supplies the heat required for production in the Böllinger Höfe. Audi compensates for emissions that are currently unavoidable with carbon credits from certified climate protection projects.
The one this year extended assembly line for the e-tron GT comprises 36 instead of the previous 16 work cycles, it is shared with the R8 combustion sports car. Neckarsulm has already been the main location for plug-in hybrids and, with the plug-in and mild hybrids of the A6, A7 and A8, has the highest density of electrified models at the brand. “With the Audi e-tron GT, we are producing the brand’s first all-electric vehicle at a German location and are thus taking another major step towards the future,” says Plant Manager Helmut Stettner.
Audi is still holding back what the final e-tron GT will look like. Like previous reports, the message about the upcoming start of production only contained pictures of camouflaged pre-series vehicles. The technical data are also only provisional so far. The 2018 revealed first draft is 4.96 meters long, 1.96 meters wide and 1.38 meters high. The concept vehicle has 434 kW (590 hp), which means it can go from 0 to 100 km / h and up to 240 km / h in 3.5 seconds. According to the WLTP standard, the range is “over 400 kilometers”.
The technical basis for the e-tron GT is provided by the electric car platform developed by the sister company Porsche for the Taycan sports sedan J1. The Audi should also allow particularly sporty driving. The battery is flat and takes up the entire underbody area between the front and rear axles. The resulting low center of gravity is, according to Audi, comparable to that of the R8, which ensures high driving dynamics. Together with the all-wheel steering, the result is “a perfect synthesis of sports car-appropriate agility and precision, supplemented by the highest degree of directional stability”.
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