Two years ago, an Audi 4S store hung a banner on the exterior wall that read, "Audi also has pure electric new energy", attracting customers to come and experience Audi's pure electric vehicles. But it's a pity that because the expression is too straightforward, it is self-defeating, not only did not achieve the goal, but also became a laughing stock for netizens.
But then again, it's a stupid approach, but at least it's proof that Audi is working hard to make the transition to new energy sources. In the same year, the new Audi China R&D center in Beijing and the Audi FAW New Energy Plant in Changchun both opened, clearly demonstrating that Audi is well on its way to transforming its business in the Chinese market.
After two years of hard work, Audi has also achieved some success in the new energy market.
In 2023, Audi delivered around 1.9 million vehicles to customers worldwide, of which more than 178,000 were fully electric, an increase of 51 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, Audi's all-electric e-tron series deliveries in China in 2023 reached 31,025 units.
It can be said that in the past two years, Audi has also achieved this process from scratch. But after that, Audi should think more about how to move from "1" to infinity in this highly competitive pure electric market. From Audi's actions at this Beijing Auto Show, we can probably see that it will no longer be polite to you next, and will show all the killer features.
The first killer feature is the Audi Q6L e-tron unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show. This is Audi's first new model based on the PPE luxury electric platform and designed specifically for the Chinese market. To put it bluntly, compared with other pure electric models of Audi, the Audi Q6L e-tron has a generational advantage in the technology platform.
At present, the entire Volkswagen Group has three pure electric platform architectures in China: the MEB that has been used in the Volkswagen ID. series, the J1 platform specially prepared for high-performance sports cars, and the PPE (Premium Platform Electric) used in the Audi Q6 e-tron.
In addition to Audi, Porsche is also using the PPE platform, and it is said that the pure electric version of the Macan unveiled this time is also based on this platform. So many people will say that the Audi Q6 e-tron will become the replacement of the Porsche Macan. While this is unlikely to be possible from a brand perspective, it is not technically possible.
Among these three platforms, only MEB and PPE are domestically produced, and only imported sports cars are used on the J1 platform. Among the three, only PPE and J1 can support 800V platform architecture. The PPE can support 270kW DC fast charging, and the 100kWh battery pack can be charged from 5% to 80% in just 25 minutes.
However, because the Q6 e-tron is specially tailored for the Chinese market, the wheelbase has been increased by 105mm compared to the overseas version, so it can accommodate a larger battery of 107 kWh, and the charging time will vary slightly: a 10-minute charge can increase the range by almost 260 km, and in 25 minutes, the battery level can be increased from 10% to 80%.
Although the battery capacity is only 7 kWh more than the overseas version, it can also be seen that Audi is doing its best to benefit Chinese consumers. With this 107 kWh battery, the Audi Q6 e-tron has a range of up to 700 km in CLTC mode.
Compared with other 800V architectures in China, one of the highlights of Audi PPE's 800V technology is that its energy management system can divide an 800V high-voltage battery into two 400V batteries for management.
This is actually more from the aspect of adaptability, after all, not all charging stations support 800V super fast charging. Recently, we have often seen the news that a certain pure electric car often fails to charge at a third-party charging station. When encountering a charging station that is not suitable for the 800V architecture, PPE will split the battery into two 400V batteries and then charge them in parallel, which helps to improve efficiency.
As a high-end pure electric platform, PPE naturally has extraordinary performance, and it will also be based on the rear-wheel drive form that pays attention to driving pleasure. The Audi Q6L e-tron will be available in 2WD and 4WD versions in China, with the rear-wheel drive version having a motor power of 255kW and the all-wheel drive version having a system output of 345kW.
That's a very good dynamic.
The level of the two-wheel drive version is relatively leading in the industry. For reference, the 2WD version of the Xpeng G9 has a 230kW motor, while the 2WD version of the Tesla Model Y has a 220kW motor, and the all-wheel drive version has a mid-to-upper power level, sandwiched between the Model Y long-range all-wheel drive version with a total power of 331kW and the high-performance version, with the former having a total motor power of 331kW and the latter with 357kW.
As for the most important intelligent aspect of the domestic market, the Audi Q6L e-tron based on the E³ 1.2 electronic architecture has finally kept up with the pace of Chinese brands, and a curved OLED panoramic display in the center seems to have demonstrated its extraordinary strength.
In addition to this screen, the Audi Q6L e-tron is also equipped with a 10.9-inch passenger screen and AR-HUD augmented reality head-up display, which focuses on a sense of futuristic technology.
I think the most intelligent side of the Audi Q6L e-tron is its headlights.
The Audi Q6 e-tron is equipped with a total of five domain controllers, one of which has a software module embedded in it, which makes dynamic digital light signatures possible. The second-generation digital OLED taillights have six OLED panels with a total of 360 luminous units, which generate a new image every ten milliseconds by means of a specific algorithm. As a result, it can not only present a variety of patterns, but also interact with other roads. The title of "Lamp Factory" is well deserved.
Anyway, from the outside to the inside, the Audi Q6 e-tron gives you the feeling of strong technological flavor. The sense of science and technology has always been Audi's forte.
As for high-end intelligent driving, some media revealed earlier that the Audi Q6 e-tron will use a high-precision map solution, but at the auto show, they never mentioned it, and there is a high probability that they will change directions, after all, more and more manufacturers have given up high-precision maps and moved towards a mapless route.
But one thing is for sure, the Audi Q6 e-tron can meet your most basic L2 driver assistance system very well, not only rich in functions, such as standard rear parking assist, cruise control, lane departure warning, efficiency assist system, pre-collision safety system and fatigue driving warning system, etc., but also from the actual car, its hardware specifications are not low, and there are at least 3 light millimeter wave radars.
The second killer feature for Audi to enter the domestic pure electric market is that it will cooperate with Porsche to launch a premium charging network to enrich the luxury charging service ecosystem in China and tailor high-end customer journeys for the Chinese market. From the second half of 2024, Audi and Porsche customers will have access to more than 900 charging stations from 50 cities across China.
In other words, whether in terms of products or services, Audi is gradually moving away from the Volkswagen brand and slowly approaching the Porsche brand.
Perhaps in the new energy era, Audi is no longer a more advanced "Volkswagen", but a more people-friendly "Porsche". (Text: Nobita)