Electrics on the Autobahn

AMERICA MIGHT BE AWASH WITH cheap, gas, but China’s appalling smog  problem and the growing backlash against diesels in Western Europe’s crowded cities have forced Germany’s premium automakers to re-evaluate their markets, especially since last year the Chinese bought more than 22 million vehicles, and the Europeans bought 14 million.

- George Kacher

The major players in Munich, Stuttgart, and Ingolstadt are now spending big on electric vehicles, which are expected to comprise up to 25 percent of new vehicle sales by 2025. Seeing how the combustion engine will be with us for decades to come, these manufacturers are inventing distinct, flexible vehicle architectures that meet the needs of the old and new worlds alike.

It has yet to be decided if 

Audi or its sibling Porsche will develop a bespoke premium EV platform for Volkswagen Group. The platform will have to be low, sleek, and easily adaptable because designers need these elements to make non crossover EVs look good. Until the group bosses make a decision, Audi and Porsche are heading in different directions in terms of EV development.

Audi could easily justify an exclusive, tailor-made, EV-compatible matrix for almost all of its models, A4 through Q8, replacing the MLB components they’re currently built on. However, if the A4 moves to the cheaper MQB architecture and the Q7 and Q8 SUVs plus the A8 sedan move to the front-engine, rear- or all-wheel-drive MSB hardware, that complicates matters. Audi is basing its midsize electric SUV, due in 2018, on the MLB Evo architecture used in the all-new Q5, and that same hardware will also be used for the Audi ESS (electric sports sedan) due in 2019, which is basically a battery-fed A7 look-alike. Both models can be built on existing assembly lines, but because they are based on MLB Evo, they’ll be heavier and less space efficient than they should be. Audi will also collaborate with VW on a five-seat, zero-emission crossover that will likely be badged EQ4 when it arrives in 2020.

After losing a lot of money