Audi Could Push Back All-Electric Ambitions

In what certainly looks like just the latest walkback in EV ambitions, an outlet across the pond is reporting that Audi may be shoving its transition to an all-electric manufacturer by a few years.

Tipping this notion is a quote from Gernot Döllner, a man who is both the CEO and the head of R&D at the brand. Besides perhaps having the world’s longest business cars, he is also tempering expectations when it comes to a complete switch to EVs at Audi. Up to this point, the brand has said it’d be fully weaned off gasoline by 2033 – but that timeline is now up in the air.

“The growth rate in electric vehicles has slowed down,” said Döllner in an interview with the European magazine. While acknowledging the EV trend is still positive, he also talks about ‘flexibility’ in terms of what’s on sale as the calendar flips into the 2030’s and beyond. A slipping of the 2035 legislation which would see the banning of internal combustion new cars opens the door for hybrids and plug-in hybrids, a powertrain which is arguably an easier sell thanks to readily accessible fuel and a lack of range anxiety.

“All combustion cars will have plug-in hybrid versions,” the suits at Audi have said. “We thought PHEV would be a bridging technology,” speaking to the fact that many customers aren’t yet willing or even able to make a full switch to EV. “Now we see the bridge is longer than we thought.”

In a rare fit of pulling back the curtain to have a look at product planning, it seems Audi is indeed continuing its plan to bin the (really) small cars which appear in markets other than North America. Machines like the A1 and Q2 are unlikely to be replaced after they wrap their current design cycle, and top brass continues to express a desire to have some sort of ultra-luxe range topper. Perhaps someone at Audi is paying attention to what Cadillac is trying to pull off with the Celestiq and Sollei.

[Image: Audi]

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