Audi’s upcoming A4 e-tron is coming into view thanks to substantive comments on the car made by Head of Development Rouven Mohr to goat.com.au during the launch of the new Q7. In a discussion at the launch, Mohr said there was “no need to correct” previously reported timing that points to a 2028 arrival for the battery-electric A4, a statement that seems to imply that this important new offering from Audi is not running behind that schedule. The A4 e-tron is expected to become one of Audi’s highest-volume EVs.
FIRST SSP VOLUME MODEL
According to Mohr, the A4 e-tron will be among the first high-volume production Audis built using the Volkswagen Group’s new SSP platform.
GoAuto’s report shares that the model will be the first Audi to combine the SSP architecture with a unified battery pack and zonal electronic architecture, allowing it to take full advantage of the new platform’s capabilities.
RADICAL NEXT DESIGN LANGUAGE & EXCLUSIVE PHOTO RENDERING
Mohr also confirmed the A4 e-tron will introduce Audi’s new “Radical Next” design language to a mainstream production model.
“You can be sure that the A4 will be one of the first mass, or let me say, bigger volume production cars with (the) Radical Next design, with all of our new philosophies,” he told GoAuto.
He added that the car will represent Audi’s DNA through “clarity in design, a new interior experience, but also the latest technology.”
Given that and in order to illustrate this story, threw images of the Audi Concept C into an AI tool in order to visualize the results. The results offered a range of possible ideas, but the image you see in this story stuck out for two reasons. For starters, it didn’t deviate from the core design details of the Concept C – details we hear are also core to Audi’s upcoming Frascella-era products.
Beyond that, this particular design also seemed to borrow some form from the Audi A4 (B6). The B6, as design aficionados will tell you, was birthed at the height of Audi’s strongest embracing of Bauhaus design philosophy. That early 2000s period birthed cars such as the Audi A6 (C5), Audi A2 and also featured the Audi TT (Mk1) launched in 1998. We know that period is influential to Audi’s design team as of late, and the Concept C language adopting a B6 inspired form in this specific image worked far better than other renderings generated for this story.
In as much, I’m sticking with it… and only it. Rather than guessing, I’m hoping that Audi goes a similar direction. I’m doing so because it really seems to compliment the Radical Simplicity design language, revealing a future of Audi models that both offer truly handsome looks and strongly move beyond the evolutionary design trajectory Audi has been on now for nearly two decades.
A NEW INTERIOR PHILOSOPHY
Beyond its exterior styling, the A4 e-tron is expected to debut a new interior concept currently under development at Audi.
According to the report, the cabin will move toward more subtle integration of technology while bringing back greater use of physical knobs and buttons.
Mohr said Audi’s goal is to restore the “typical Audi feeling that people have always loved from our brand.”
PROJECT HOUSE DEVELOPMENT
The A4 e-tron is also being developed using Audi’s accelerated “project house” process, the same development approach first used to create the recently unveiled Nuvolari supercar from the Lamborghini Temerario platform.
“At the moment, we are working in a similar approach also on the A4 E-Tron,” Mohr said.
He explained that the approach allows Audi to benchmark competitors quickly while maintaining its own product direction.
“If you want to beat your competition, you have to know your competition… You have to look at what is going on outside to have a clear view and to decide your orientation, but the orientation you have to decide on your own.”
POWERTRAIN EXPECTATIONS
GoAuto reports the A4 e-tron is expected to be offered in both rear-wheel drive and quattro all-wheel drive configurations, with multiple power outputs and at least two battery options.
Specific battery capacities, range figures and power outputs have not yet been confirmed.
AN AVANT REMAINS LIKELY
One longstanding Audi tradition also appears safe.
When asked about the future of the Avant, Mohr was unequivocal.
“If you ask me, I fully agree that an Avant is part of the Audi DNA. Audi made, I think, the station wagon cool – we should continue this.”
While Audi has yet to officially reveal the A4 e-tron, Mohr’s comments provide a clearer idea of how that the model will serve as a technological and design milestone for the brand when it arrives, reportedly around 2028.
Read the full story at goauto.com.au