The Audi factory of Vorst produces the series of the E-tron, the first fully electric SUV of the brand. But actually, they have been building the E-tron in Brussels earlier. There were already more than a hundred pieces of the band at that time, although Audi does not want to give exact figures. Is Audi's electric a Tesla killer, or is there still some catch-up work to do?
The Audi E-tron, The All-Electric SUV Is A 'Tesla Killer'
Audi says the increase in the driving range of the e-tron 55 Quattro SUV to 436km on the WLTP cycle results from improvements in efficiency via software upgrades and optimizing drive system hardware.
"Daily, we had sent these extra cars through the production process," said factory director Patrick Danau. The factory in Brussels switched to the production of the so-called 'zero series.' These are cars that are identical to the ones that are ultimately sold to the customers. "They are service cars," said Danau. In May 2019, the first Audi e-tron was delivered.
Audi Vorst will be the center of expertise for other factories that switch to electric vehicles From A1 to E-tron The E-tron in Brussels replaced the production of the small Audi A1, which is moved to Spain. But switching from one model to another does not happen from one day to the next. It was a gradual process in which A1's and E-trons passed between each other on the same production line. They are built today by the same people who have been assembling the A1 for years. According to Danau, the fact that they switched to work on the E-tron - the Audi group's showpiece- created a lot of 'enthusiasm' among its people.
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E-tron's New Factory
To produce the E-tron, the factory in Vorst was completely rebuilt in 2018, 2019. A great deal, because in the meantime, the production of the A1 had to continue to run unabated, which was 2018 still 95,000 units. The arrival of the E-tron is, in any case, a guarantee for the future in Vorst, thinks Danau.
"We actually put a whole new factory there," he said. 'We have been running in Brussels for 70 years. I hope that we will continue for another 30 years. The basic conditions are there. "Audi still does not yet want to say how many E-turns it wants to produce annually in Vorst. In any case, it would be sufficient to utilize the current capacity of the two-leg system fully. Further training for employees, "And nothing prevents us from going to a three-shift system," said Danau. "That will depend on the market." But given that Audi Vorst will build the E-trons for the global market, including China, the cards are, in any case, favorable.
To start building the E-tron in Brussels, Audi invested heavily in further training of the employees. 200,000 hours of additional training were provided. In the future, Audi Vorst will serve as a center of expertise for other Audi factories that switch to electric vehicles.
Superb interior fit and finish have been an Audi calling card for many years now, and the e-tron shows that's not going to change as the brand starts producing electric cars.
Audi E-tron's Driving Range
The Audi E-tron is an electric SUV with a range of about 430 kilometers. The starting price is 80,000 euros, according to Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, on the presentation of the annual results. At the head office in Ingolstadt, the launch of the Brussels E-tron is unequivocally called 'a milestone' for the company. The driving range of the E-tron is similar to that of Tesla's Model X, and in terms of cost price, both cars are in the same category.
The E-tron is a direct challenger of Tesla. The driving range is admittedly less to that of Tesla's Model X but cost price cheaper. In Norway, the European country for the electric car, they recorded 3,700 reservations at the start of the production. And there were 340 reservations in Belgium in two months. E-tron Sportback Audi is firmly committed to electric cars. After the Brussels e-tron, many other models have to follow. In 2020 the E-tron Sportback arrived, which will also be running in Brussels. By 2025, Audi wants to achieve more than 30 percent of its turnover from electric cars.
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