Audi e-tron Sportback Concept: The SUV Coupe Goes Electric

Audi is getting a bit ahead of itself in its quest to deliver an all-electric SUV. The production version of the new stand-alone Audi e-tron crossover won’t arrive for another year or so, yet Audi is already showing us what its “SUV coupe” derivative will look like with this e-tron Sportback concept.

Like the Audi e-tron Quattro concept, which was first shown in 2015, this e-tron Sportback slots in between the brand’s Q5 and Q7 crossovers in size, and it may become part of the expected Q6 family while keeping the Sportback appellation. As you’d expect from the Sportback designation, this new concept is a bit lower and wider and has a steeply sloped rear window in the vein of the BMW X4 and X6 crossovers.

The e-tron Sportback thus shares its electric drivetrain with the e-tron concept. It comprises two electric motors in the rear axle and one in the front to provide through-the-road all-wheel drive—a system Audi calls “electrified Quattro.” Total output is 429 horsepower, although that number can jump to 496 in “boost” mode.

Juice comes from a 95-kWh lithium-ion battery pack located between the axles, below the passenger compartment. That’s nearly as big as the Tesla Model X’s largest (100 kWh) battery option, and, according to Audi, it delivers a Tesla-rivaling 310-mile range. A fast-charging system can add as much as 248 miles of range within 30 minutes on the DC connection. An inductive charging pad, which Audi has been talking about developing for a few years now, is also part of the package.

The e-tron Sportback’s four-seat cockpit features futuristic-looking TFT and OLED displays, all of which are operated by touch-sensitive controls—no buttons and knobs found here. As you might presume from its design, the e-tron Sportback’s interior is a bit less spacious than the standard e-tron concept’s.

Remove a few of this concept’s more daring features—like its 23-inch wheels and outlandish interior materials—and you have a good idea of what the production e-tron Sportback will look like when it arrives in 2019, following the standard e-tron’s debut in 2018.