Audi NZ ahead of the USA when it comes to EVs

The Audi e-tron 50 has just gone on sale in New Zealand. Photo: Liz Dobson

Audi New Zealand is ahead of American when it comes to the e-tron electric car as US dealers have had to slash prices to keep up with Tesla.

Audi USA has been forced to cut the entry price of its battery-electric crossover, the e-tron, by US$8800 (NZ$12,000) for the 2021 model year as the Germany luxury brand begins expanding its EV lineup to take on rival Tesla.

American Audi dealers complained that the e-tron's expensive price point and original range made it a tough sell against Tesla and EVs coming from other luxury automakers, according to Automotive News. Through the first six months of 2020, Audi sold ,872 e-trons in the US, up 57 per cent compared with 2019, the model's initial year in the U.S. market.

In addition, Audi said it has increased the e-tron's EPA-estimated range from 328km to 328km, "through optimised drive system hardware and software adjustments".

But Audi NZ is already offering a price decrease in the new e-tron 50 model, at $119,900 for the first 25 units sold here, said the brand’s general manager, Dean Sheed.

“We will also be receiving the range increase on Model Year 21 e-tron 55 vehicles to 447km which is great,” he said.

But Sheed also didn’t think range is important as charging technology improves. 

“The other point is that we can talk range but it’s becoming known that the real world customer focus point is about charging speed, not necessarily range per say.

“Just look at a charge curve and cars with solid thermal management (aka an A/C system for the battery) take charge quicker and get the owner on the road quicker so single theoretical linear range becomes less of an issue.”

In addition to the e-tron and newly launched e-tron Sportback, Audi plans to roll out a third EV, the Q4 e-tron, in the second half of 2021. The Q4 e-tron, also a compact crossover, is built upon Volkswagen Group's MEB architecture, and is expected to have a greater range than the e-tron, which is built on a different architecture.