Audi Sport E-tron GT Concept to Share Platform With Porsche Taycan, Debut at 2018 LA Auto Show
Audi plans to expand its electric vehicle lineup with a promising sports grand tourer.
Audi's forthcoming Sport E-tron GT concept will share a platform with Porsche's hugely hyped Taycan EV sports car, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Drive. It will be officially unveiled at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show which kicks off in late November.
The plans for the all-electric grand tourer were first announced back in March during Audi's annual conference in Ingolstadt, Germany.
The performance offering is expected to be released in 2020 to spearhead Audi's sporty electric vehicle lineup. "It’s a car that thrills at first glance, a fully electric gran turismo that stands for a new kind of sportiness," Rupert Stadler, Audi's now-suspended CEO said during the brand's press conference upon the vehicle's announcement. Stadler also noted that the go-fast EV will be produced at the Böllinger Höfe plant near Neckarsulm beginning in 2020, the plant which currently makes the Audi R8.
While power and range figures are unconfirmed for the Audi Sport E-tron GT, its corporate Porsche cousin touts some especially impressive outputs. The Stuttgart brand promises 600 horsepower from its Taycan model as well as an 800-volt battery system which is said to provide around 250 miles worth of charge in just 15 minutes.
Audi recently released the specs for what will be its first mass-produced electric model, the 2019 E-tron SUV. With a price of $74,800, the futuristic utility vehicle is aimed directly at the Tesla Model X which currently rules the luxury electric SUV niche. Audi hopes to expand its EV lineup by offering more than 20 electrified models by 2025, explaining that while some of them will be plug-in-hybrids, more than half of them will be fully-electric.