Studies: This is Audi’s electric future
Four make three
Audi Activesphere Concept
© press-inform – the press office
Audi Sphere studies are more than just a finger exercise, almost all give a concrete view of the electrical plans of the Ingolstadt carmaker. A fourth concept car shows a new facet.
The Monterey Car Week is the right place for the combination of the three Audi Sphere concepts. Where else but at the most exclusive car event of the year do the cars get the attention of so many well-off Audi customers. But the union is more than pure sensationalism, but also a clear signal of where the journey is going. Especially since a fourth model, the Audi Activesphere Concept, will complete the series of rolling glass balls next year.
The Ingolstadt-based company has not yet released more than a sketchy sketch. No wonder, since the study will not be published until the beginning of next year. The name already suggests it: It’s about a crossover coupé or at least an off-road vehicle with a coupé-like line. The headlight signature is similar to that of the Audi Skysphere Concept, which further emphasizes the sporty touch. “The Audi Activesphere Concept will offer a high degree of variability for an active lifestyle – on-road as well as off-road,” says Ingolstadt. The dimensions are accordingly: The study will be about as long as an Audi A7 and will not crack the five-meter mark.
It is clear that the drive will be electric, but the Quattro card is played on this model. Also goes with the stick and stone character. However, anyone who expects a new edition of the Ur-Quattro as a Stromer will be disappointed. The rounder shapes of the studies published so far do not fit in with this. That this Sphere representative can also drive automatically – probably level 4 – is also set.
But what has not yet been clarified is the question of which platform the ActiveSphere will be on. The other three brothers use the Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which Audi and Porsche are developing together and which forms the basis for the electric vehicles. It starts next year with the Q6 and about a year later there will be an electric version of the A6, as already announced by the Audi A6 e-tron Avant Concept. However, VW is pushing ahead with the SSP architecture and will insist on synergy effects. Only a clear technology and product strategy will prevent the two platforms from being cannibalized.
No matter what technology the vehicle is based on, they all have one attribute in common: variability. This is also a consequence of the possibilities offered by the electric powertrain. It starts with the interior and continues with the body shapes. The Audi product planners assume that the typical luxury class sedan in the classic three-box design has outlived itself and that there are more alternatives. These can also be implemented more easily with electric vehicles.
Now that there are four concept cards on the table and mobility concepts are constantly changing, the final question that remains to be clarified is which of the studies will make the leap into automotive reality. The Audi Grandsphere Concept, which is to inherit the flagship A8 in the middle of the decade and which, according to Audi chief designer Marc Lichte, is 75 to 80 percent close to series production, certainly has the best chances. However, the Level 4 autonomous driving functions will come later. The van-like Audi Urbansphere, which was primarily intended for the Chinese market, also has good cards. But here a rethinking of the Ingolstadt product planners is taking place. Particularly spacious e-vehicles are certainly also in demand in other countries. It is quite possible that an e-van will herald the comeback of this vehicle type in the USA and that Europe will also come back into focus.
Two representatives remain. There is no question that more than one electric SUV will be part of the Audi product portfolio. So the Audi Activesphere Concept will also find its way into dealer showrooms. Especially since coupe-like crossovers are still in demand. The Skysphere Concept currently has the worst cards, its futuristic appearance underscoring the study character of the vehicle, and electric convertibles are currently not necessarily at the top of the priority list. But here, too, the last word has not been spoken, as the Polestar 6 shows. If the topless streamer is a success, they will also take off the hoods in Ingolstadt. Maybe then it’s four out of four.