Audi has confirmed that it has committed to developing two new 100% battery-electric vehicles, with the view to launching them by 2018.
The announcement was made by Audi CEO Ruper Stadler in an interview with a German newspaper.
There is much speculation that one of these new electric drive vehicles will be a a sports activity vehicle, intended as a direct competitor to the delayed Tesla Model X (now expected in the third quarter of 2015).
The other fully electric vehicle, Audi says, will be a high-end sports car.
In 2014 Audi launched their first plug-in vehicle with the Audi A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid but they are now ready to to go fully electric.
Further to announcing the addition of two BEVs to the Audi’s roster by 2018, the company also divulged plans to invest around £1.5 billion by 2019 in the development of electric drive systems and digital technologies.
Audi will not be the only manufacturer investing heavily in electric vehicle technology over the next few years, so expect to see plenty of new models emerge with improved driving ranges aiming to dispel consumer anxiety towards EVs.
World Car Fans, Audi
