Entry-level EV to replace Audi A3 to arrive before 2027
Among the advantages offered by the new SSP architecture over today’s MEB structure are a lower floor height and greater modularity for increased differentiation between models.
The SSP platform is also designed to support a new 800V electric architecture. This will offer significantly faster charging times than the 400V system of existing MEB-based models and enable speeds of up to 270kW, which is good for an 80-mile top-up in 10 minutes. Audi CEO Markus Duesmann said the SSP architecture will use what he calls a “unified cell format” and offer a range of up to 435 miles. Although the SSP platform is being developed to accept solid-state batteries, they are not planned to be offered on the successor to today’s A3.
Autocar has been told that the A3 replacement has been conceived as a five-door hatchback and four-door saloon, both with incremental increases in dimensions. Those privy to early design proposals say Audi designers have taken full advantage of the packaging solutions offered by the dedicated SSP platform, providing the A3 successor with altered proportions, including shorter overhangs, a shorter bonnet line, a longer cabin and larger wheelhouses.
Audi’s EV onslaught: What’s coming when
The electric equivalent of the best-selling Audi Q5 crossover will be the first car to be based on the new PPE EV platform that Audi is developing with Porsche and, as such, will be a close technical relation to the upcoming Porsche Macan EV. The flat floor and lack of an engine will make for a much more spacious cabin than that of the Q5 and the new-generation architecture will make it competitive in terms of range, charge times and performance.
2024 Audi A4 E-tron
Audi will go after the indomitable Tesla Model 3 – and its increasingly popular rivals, the Polestar 2 and BMW i4 – with an electric version of the next-generation A4. To be sold alongside an array of familiar combustion and hybrid options, the A4 E-tron will share its Q6 sibling’s PPE platform but will be styled similarly to its combustion counterpart. Expect a four-wheel-drive RS-badged range-topper, too.
