If you thought that the electric tech gained from the development of the Porsche Taycan would be confined to Porsche and not any of the other Volkswagen Group brands, you haven't been following the company's electrification strategy very closely.
Porsche and Audi are working on a new Premium Platform Electric that will underpin a series of electric vehicles from several VW Group marques, one of which will be an Audi A5-sized electric sedan, Autocar has learned.
The Premium Platform Electric architecture will be rear-wheel drive in base form, with just a single electric motor positioned at the rear axle, but for Audi's quattro all-wheel-drive requirements it will feature a second motor up front. The electric platform will be flexible enough to be used for large sedans and SUVs, as well as a number of battery sizes, with the longest-range option topping out at 300 miles, Autocar reports. The PPE architecture will also feature an 800V system capable of 350-kW charging -- that's very fast charging.
What models are in the pipeline when it comes to the Premium Platform Electric? It appears Audi will field an A4-sized four-door sedan with a coupe-like profile akin to the A7 Sportback, with styling nods to the E-tron GT concept. (If you're itching to use the Tesla lineup for comparison, this sounds like it will be a Model 3 competitor). Autocar cautions that this model has not been approved by Audi just yet, and that it's still in the early stages of design, but with a range of 300 miles, all-wheel drive, and midsize sedan proportions, it sounds like a no-brainer for Audi's electric range, which for now includes just the 2019 e-tron SUV. A midsize sedan would be one of the logical next steps, given the strong demand that Tesla has experienced with the Model 3, circling back to that comparison.
This midsize Sportback electric model, if approved for production, is expected to kick off a range of models that will include crossovers, station wagons, Sportback models, sedans and SUVs. But before the PPE platform vehicles arrive, which will be early next decade, two other electric Audi models will get here first: the Audi E-tron GT -- a version of the Porsche Taycan -- and the e-tron Sportback, which will be a more coupe-like version of the e-tron SUV which is currently on sale.
