Audi is now officially mass producing the all-electric e-tron quattro SUV three years after revealing the concept version at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt. Specifically, the Audi e-tron is being built at a factory in Brussels and it will be unveiled at a world premiere in San Francisco on September 17.
The Brussels factory is also the location where a number of Volkswagen Group electric vehicles will be manufactured going forward as the body shop and assembly line there has been retooled. Plus Volkswagen set up its own battery production facility in the Brussels factory as well.
The Audi e-tron all-electric SUV has a charging capacity of up to 150 kW at quick-charging stations. The e-tron five-seater SUV will have a range of about 250 miles and sales are expected to start by the end of this year.
“The Audi e-tron is a genuine pioneer,” said Audi’s Board of Management Member for Production Peter Kössler. “It features innovative technologies such as virtual exterior mirrors and combines traditional Audi qualities in handling and dynamics with technical Vorsprung that goes far beyond the car. Our Brussels plant was comprehensively modernized for the production of the electric car. This is the world’s first certified CO2-neutral mass production in the premium segment.”
And the e-tron is considered the first in a line of all-electric vehicles that Audi is planning. In 2020, Audi is expected to introduce an all-electric four-door Gran Turismo and compact vehicle. And then the company is expected to launch over 20 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids by 2025, according to TechCrunch.
Audi said that its employees in Brussels have already received over 200,000 hours of training for the first all-electric Audi. So they are “perfectly prepared for the start of production.”
