UPDATE: Audi looks set to introduce an A9 model described as “a highly efficient electric car that is scheduled to be on the road as early as 2024”, and has just officially announced that production will produce a Q4 e-tron SUV and ‘twin’ sportback.

The A9, which is the spiritual evolution of the 2017 Aicon concept, represents the culmination of thinking and possibilities of Project Artemis. It will rival the Mercedes EQS and Jaguar XJ. 

This project represents the technical showcase of the VW Group of 75 electric cars and 60 plug-in hybrids by 2029.  It unites the best thinking and innovation across Porsche, VW, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, SEAT and Skoda. 

Project Artemis aims to create an agile model to channel fast ideas to the market by using the power of such a broad showcase of brands.  Around 60 Billion Euros will be spent within the group on electrification this decade. 

The A9 will be a sport sedan or liftback, with the internal space of an A8 but the size of an A7. 

Earlier this week, photos were leaked of the Audi Q4 e-tron SUV, first shown at the 2019 Geneva motor show, but overnight the brand has announced it will also create a sportback version of the Q4.

Both are slated for a launch at the beginning of 2021.

“With the Q4 e-tron concepts we are outlining our plans to cascade e-tron technology into the compact SUV class, and I think these studies clearly show that we will be downsizing without in any way downgrading,” says Director of Audi UK Andrew Doyle.

“Like the two e-trons that paved the way for them both versions are hugely attractive interpretations of the SUV and Sportback brief underpinned by the very latest electrification technology delivered with characteristic Audi quality and ingenuity. I have no doubt that they will encourage wider acceptance of the benefits of electric driving, with the Audi e-tron range.”

They will use the Modular Electric Matrix (MEB) that Volkswagen is using for the ID.3 and ID.4. 

They will have an 82kWH battery good for 450km, all-wheel-drive, and around 225kW of power, which will propel it from 0 to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds.  Its top speed will be 180km/h. 

The Q4 e-tron and sportback will be spacious due to no transmission tunnel. They will have an angular rear window and spoiler with slender rear tail lights. At the end front it will have special LED headlights and a rakish windscreen.

Their measurements are almost identical – they share the same 1.9-metre width and 2.77-metre wheelbase, but at 4.6 metres in length and 1.6 metres in height the Sportback is fractionally longer and lower, with just one centimetre separating the duo in each dimension.