The vehicle has a range suitable for everyday use and a charging capacity of up to 150 kW, meaning that it can be primed and ready for a long distance journey in around 30 minutes using a rapid charging station.
Peter Kössler, Audi Board of Management Member for Production, and Patrick Danau, Managing Director of Audi Brussels, witnessed the first Audi e-tron models driving silently off the assembly line.
“The Audi e-tron is a genuine pioneer” said Peter Kössler. “It features innovative technologies such as virtual exterior mirrors and combines traditional Audi qualities in handling and dynamics with technical Vorsprung that goes far beyond the car. Our Brussels plant was comprehensively modernised for the production of the electric car. This is the world's first certified CO2-neutral mass production in the premium segment.”
Audi Brussels offsets all emissions produced in production and at the site, primarily by using energy from renewable sources, but also through environmental projects.
Patrick Danau, Managing Director of Audi Brussels, added that the company has built up numerous competencies in-house for the Audi e-tron and developed both the battery technology and the actual drive system itself. Employees rethought, planned and implemented many stages of production - since summer 2016, the plant has extensively rebuilt its body shop, paint shop and assembly line step by step, and has set up its own battery production. Driverless transport systems bring the batteries for the electric cars to the assembly line just in sequence. The employees in Brussels have received more than 200,000 hours of training for the first all-electric Audi and are thus perfectly prepared for the start of production.
Audi is to broadcast the world premiere of the Audi e-tron in San Francisco live on September 17th at 8.30 p.m. local time (on September at 5:30 a.m. CEST) at www.e-tron.audi.
Image: Assembly of the Audi e-tron – the brand’s first fully electric SUV – has begun this week at its Brussels plant.
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