 "Balbir Singh Dhillon")
Audi added another electric vehicle to its India portfolio with the launch of the Q8 e-tron on Friday. With this vehicle, launched a few months after its global launch, Audi has six fully electric cars in its overall portfolio of 15 cars in India.
The car is offered in four variants—Q8 50 e-tron, Q8 55 e-tron, Q8 Sportback 50 e-tron, Q8 Sportback 55 e-tron—with a starting price of Rs 1.13 crore. Globally, the German carmaker has stated that it would go fully electric by 2033.
Balbir Singh Dhillon, head, Audi India said that they will continue to launch the next generation of their internal combustion engine (ICE) portfolio over the coming years and the cars would run through their life cycles which is estimated to be eight to nine years. After these launches, the carmaker would not be launching any next-generation ICE cars. They said they would also continue to bring in new electric models over the next few years.
Dhillon said that globally, the new Q6 electric has been previewed. However, it is not clear what the Indian plans for this car are yet.
Only 5 per cent of the luxury car segment is electric, and most of these cars are priced above Rs 1 crore. The faster adoption of luxury electric cars would depend on range and availability of charging infra among others.
Audi Q8 55 e-tron and the Q8 Sportback 55 e-tron would offer a range of 582 kilometre and 600 kilometre respectively, while the Q8 50 e-tron and Audi Q8 Sportback 50 e-tron both offer up to 491 kilometre and 505 kilometre, respectively. Dhillon said that with a higher range, these cars could be more suitable for inter-city travel or long-distance travel. The cars would take around 26 minutes to charge from 20 to 80 per cent. Audi Q8 e tron customers will have complimentary access to more than 1,000 charge point operators across India as part of the myAudi connect application till the end of the year.
Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has said it would introduce six new electric models over the next five years, and has set an ambitious target of phasing out diesel engines by 2026. Mercedes Benz has also said it aims to be all-electric by 2030, however, contingent on favourable market conditions.
