German auto major has announced the new electrified e-tron model before the last one it came up with is fully revealed. The new e-tron is the PB 18 E-Tron, which Audi is referring to as an “electric-drive supercar concept.”
The exciting new model is set to make its global debut at Pebble Beach next month.
Audi has not said too much about the PB 18 E-Tron at the moment beyond the fact that it owes a degree of its technology to the Le Mans-series winning R18 E-Tron, and that it was designed by the Audi Design Loft located in Malibu. A very dark teaser image has been published, and it shows a low-slung road-going car with aggressive bulging wheel arches, squinting LED headlights and a prominent rear spoiler.
Audi had also recently revealed a new set of images showing off their E-Tron’s futuristic interior. The most obvious standout feature is the cockpit that’s dominated by a pair of large screens on the dash and in the instrument cluster, much like the recently released Q8 flagship SUV.
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While the R18 E-Tron race car was powered by a hybrid system, it’s hard to see a road-going production version of the PB 18 going down that route as Audi’s first E-tron model to go on sale to the public will be an all-electric crossover. The E-Tron SUV is set to get its full reveal on September 17 ahead of it going on sale sometime in 2019. It was supposed to be unveiled in August, but internal Audi issues meant the ceremony had to be postponed.
It’s understandable we don’t know much at the moment about the PB 18, but not too much more is known about the E-Tron SUV. What we do know is that when the crossover goes into production it won’t use three motors like the original concept. But the two motors it will have will be powered by a 95 kWh battery that even on the new European WTLP testing regime is good for a range on a single charge of 249 miles.
However, that battery pack and range will not be in all versions of the E-Tron crossover as Audi is expected to follow Tesla’s lead of offering the vehicle in a number of variants with different power outputs and ranges. On the plus side, this means the E-Tron should be able to enter the market at a competitive price point.