The electrified Audi A8 EV flagship is under development and should go on sale next year. This top Audi EV could challenge German rivals for your attention.
Has Audi fallen behind, or are they working toward something special? This brand brings several e-tron, all-electric vehicles to our roads, but nothing is quite like what the new A8 could be. This new flagship EV sedan should take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan and BMW i7 for supremacy in the electric luxury sedan world. Will this new A8 EV become the top-end sedan you love to drive?
Audi’s ambitious EV plan
During the next three years, with a self-imposed deadline of 2025, Audi intends to bring 20 new vehicles to the market. We expect all of them to be electric models, but that’s not been confirmed. Still, many of them should be, and this new A8 EV could be the start of the next phase of electrification for the brand. This new large sedan brings a strong focus on high-margin premium cars to fill one of the core market segments. Can Audi successfully achieve its goal of several new models in the next three years? All signs point to this new A8 as being the catalyst for success or failure.
What platform will this Audi utilize?
This new Audi A8 EV rides on a shared platform. The PPE platform, developed by Porsche, sits under the new Q6 e-tron and could be the most useful platform in the Volkswagen Group stable for many years. This package has the most potent powertrains and radical technology, giving these new electric Audi vehicles the power and features desired to make them more interesting and upscale than ever before. If you’re wondering about a concept model that utilized these same underpinnings, the Grandsphere, featured in 2021, rode in the same platform.
No more three-box build for this Audi
Traditional A8 sedans utilize a three-box build. This means each section of the car is developed separately and put together, much like a pickup truck. Instead of using this same build, the new A8 EV will have a smooth appearance meant to cut down on wind resistance and allow the car to be fast and relatively efficient. When looking for speed and longer driving range, cutting the wind resistance is key, and this new Audi sedan goes up against two of the longest-range EVs in the market.
This new Audi electric sedan has tons of power
The Grandsphere concept offered a claimed driving range of 466 miles. We’re unsure whether the new Audi A8 EV will have such gaudy numbers, but it still could offer the longest driving range in the Audi lineup. This new EV will include the 120-kWh battery pack, 800-volt charging capabilities, and plenty of power. The expected power figures could reach up to 711 horsepower and 708 lb-t of torque, which is more than the Audi RS6 Competition, which is powered by an amazing V8 engine. Could the new A8 EV hit 60 mph in less than four seconds? It’s certainly possible.
A big EV sedan that won’t feel quite as big
Large sedans can be cumbersome and take a long time to make a turn. One way to combat this large turning radius is to add rear-wheel steering to the mix. The new A8 EV could have up to five degrees of turning at the rear wheels, which would make it a little sportier in the curves and corners. This electric sedan should also have an electronic locking rear differential to offer excellent torque vectoring during the drive.
Could we see Level 4 autonomous driving in this car?
The Grandsphere concept was designed with the goal of achieving Level 4 autonomous driving. This means the steering wheel and pedal would be retracted, and the car would drive itself on mapped-out roads with no need for driver intervention. This might be Audi’s goal, but it’s unlikely the A8 EV will achieve this level of autonomous driving when it arrives next year. Still, we might not be too far from having some vehicles with the capability to leave the driver out of the equation for longer drives than what we currently see on the road.
The new Audi A8 EV is a technological marvel that should arrive next year to be the flagship Audi electric sedan. Could this new A8 become the car you love to drive? It certainly has a lot going for it, and it might be the car that pushes the Audi EV lineup forward.
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