An addition to our future electric cars: Meet the latest Audi concept car

Sporty, dynamic, elegant: in comparison to its sibling, the Audi Q4 e-tron concept, the Q4 Sportback e-tron is significantly more elongated and streamlined. The concept car shows its relationship to other Audi design legends with its distinctive fenders. This design feature could already be found in the original quattro from 1980. The bright light strip on the rear of the car shows the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron in its best light. The paint color varies between pearl gray and metallic green, depending on the angle at which the light hits the car. Large, 22-inch tires emphasize the new concept car’s powerful design.

The Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron concept offers its passengers plenty of legroom. The wheel base and lack of transmission tunnel create space in the interior of the Audi electric concept car. Bright, warm colors make the interior especially inviting. Suede faux leather completes the elegant look.

Three elements combine to create an intelligent driving experience for the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron concept driver:

• The Audi virtual cockpit shows the most important information about the charge level of the electric car, speed and navigation.
• The new Head-up Display with augmented reality can display graphical information blended directly into the course of the road.
• Touch elements on the steering wheel and the center console control the infotainment system and vehicle functions.

By the way: the interior of the Audi electric car is designed sustainably. The floor covering is made entirely of recycled materials.

As with its sister model, two powerful electric motors are concealed in the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron. They combine to provide 225 kilowatts of power.

As is typical for an SUV, the future electric concept car features the proprietary quattro all-wheel drive. The exceptional traction allows for quick acceleration: from 0 – 100 km/h in 6.3 seconds — no matter the driving surface or weather conditions.

The concept car also has excellent range: with over 450 kilometers according to the WLTP standard, the Q4 Sportback e-tron raises the bar for its vehicle class. Models with rear-wheel drive can even reach over 500 kilometers.

Which details were particularly important to you when designing the Q4 Sportback e-tron concept?
Philipp Römers, Audi Exterior Designer: For one, the car needed to be sporty. With the extremely low angle of the windshield and the steep slope of the roof, we highlight the characteristic of the concept car. The other aspect is efficiency. We spent a great number of hours in the wind tunnel to see what makes the Audi electric concept car particularly efficient. Along with the lower roof, the spoiler perfects the aerodynamics of the Q4 Sportback e-tron. With the rear windshield, which wraps around under the spoiler, we even created a design feature that no other Audi shares.

The car is both a coupé and an SUV — how does the design combine the benefits of both vehicle types in a single Audi electric car?
Christian Becker, Manager Audi Interior Design: The coupé cabin and the cockpit show the sportiness of the concept car. The luggage capacity and the corresponding roominess in the Audi electric car, on the other hand, are typical of an SUV. That lets us combine the best of both worlds into an SUV-coupé.

Electric cars give designers a bit more freedom, since there is more interior space in electric cars vs petrol cars. How did you use this extra space in the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron concept?
Christian Becker: The most extra space can be found in the center console area. We use this room to design a customer-focused interior. We unite functionality with one-of-a-kind design. Using various forms of shelf space, the customer can set up the Audi as it suits them best. Aside from that, we designed the display more sculpturally. The augmented reality technology, in contrast, is packaged in a compact manner. That way, we disturb the driver as little as possible.

Philipp Römers: An electric car also offers more possibilities for exterior design. The motor in an electric car needs far less cooling air than a petrol car. This allowed us to create a totally different front design that further develops the design language of our Audi electric cars: a lighter colored grill with a black mask that conceals lighting and sensor elements creates a strong visual contrast. That allows us to give the Audi electric car of the future an unmistakable face. Aside from that, in the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron we use the space created by the obsolete exhaust pipe to design the diffusor. 

Would you like to step into the Audi Q4 e-tron concept and give it a test drive? No problem. Beginning in mid-2021, the Audi Q4 e-tron models will hit the streets in series production.