AUDI STEPS CLOSER TO PRODUCTION OF ALL-ELECTRIC SUV, PICKS FACTORY WHERE 2018 AUDI Q6 E-TRON WILL BE MADE

AUDI STEPS CLOSER TO PRODUCTION OF ALL-ELECTRIC SUV, PICKS FACTORY WHERE 2018 AUDI Q6 E-TRON WILL BE MADE


AUTOMOBILES & MORE
Audi Steps Closer to Production of All-Electric SUV, Picks Factory Where 2018 Audi Q6 e-tron Will Be Made
BY NIKKI GORDON-BLOOMFIELD
• JANUARY 21, 2016


Since it debuted the Audi e-tron Quattro Concept SUV at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show last fall, Volkswagen’s premium marque Audi has been hard at work preparing the all-electric crossover for production as a 2018 model-year car.


AUDI’S NEW ELECTRIC SUV WILL BE MADE IN BELGIUM.

Offering a claimed 500-kilometers of range (310 miles) on the overly-optimistic NEDC test cycle, the all-electric model, rumored to be called the 2018 Audi Q6 e-tron, will fit in between the Audi Q7 and Audi Q5 in the Audi SUV lineup. If we ignore the Audi R8 e-tron sports car (a special low-volume, build-to-order variant of the popular R8 sports car) the Q6 e-tron will become Audi’s first mass-produced electric car.

Since Audi committed to the car’s production back in November, the German automaker has been gradually drip-feeding us information about what we can expect from the new car, from its capabilities to recharge from a special high-power CCS quick charge station from empty to 80 percent full in 30 minutes to its flush door handles OLED lights and wireless charging capabilities.

Now, it has disclosed where the high-end plug-in will be manufactured: Audi Brussels, Belgium.


UNVEILED IN FRANKFURT THIS PAST FALL, THE Q6 E-TRON WILL ENTER PRODUCTION IN EARLY 2018

Audi says the Audi Brussels production facility, located on the southwest side of Belgium’s capital city, will become a key plant for electric mobility at the Volkswagen Group, manufacturing both the unnamed 2018 model-year electric SUV as well as other future Volkswagen-group electric cars.

Alongside the production facility, Audi plans to construct a battery manufacturing plant similar to ones found alongside Nissan’s LEAF production facilities in Sunderland UK, Smyrna Tennessee and Oppama Japan. Making the high-capacity 95 kilowatt-hour battery pack that gives the Audi electric SUV its long range, the facility will also eventually produce battery packs for other Volkswagen-group vehicles, most of which are likely to use Volkswagen’s recently-developed MQB electrification toolkit.

To make space at the Audi Brussels facility, Audi says it will shift production of the A1 subcompact car to its facility in Martorell, Spain. In turn, the Audi Q3 — which is currently produced in Martorell — will have its production shifted to Audi Hungaria in Györ, Hungary.

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