Cutting-edge new AUDI E5 Sportback is the 776bhp, 480-mile EV estate… that we won’t see in the UK
First offering from the joint venture between Audi and SAIC will, very confusingly, be sold by new AUDI sub-brand
This is the all-new AUDI E5 Sportback: an all-electric estate car boasting an impressive 776bhp and 478 miles of range. However, it’s been created exclusively for sale in China, as the first product from the newly established joint venture between Audi and the Chinese manufacturer behind MG’s rebirth, SAIC – and rather bafflingly, the car will be sold under the AUDI sub-brand.
The new venture will be designing and building models specifically for the Chinese market, and its cars will not feature Audi’s traditional four-ring badge. Instead, the E5 Sportback and others that follow will simply display big AUDI lettering.
Underneath, the E5 Sportback uses a brand-new dedicated EV architecture, the Advanced Digitised Platform (ADP), which was developed between the two partners. It features an 800-volt electrical system for ultra-rapid charging, which can add 230 miles of range in just 10 minutes, AUDI claims.
The E5 Sportback will be offered with a choice of rear-drive, single-motor and all-wheel-drive, dual-motor powertrains, the most potent of which will allow for 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds. The car also rides on adaptive air suspension with ‘Continuous Damping Control’, and was tuned by Audi’s team in Germany.
The Sportback looks identical to the AUDI E concept that was revealed in November 2024, and features a more minimalist interpretation of Audi’s European design language, reworking some signature styling traits to suit Chinese buyers’ tastes.
For instance, on the E5 Sportback Audi’s familiar singleframe grille incorporates the so-called ‘AUDI Light Frame’ formed by more than 1,000 individual lights. The athletic silhouette, square nose shape and obviously pronounced wheelarches are signatures for Audi, as are the matrix LED headlight technology that features here as well.
The black loop circles on the front and rear incorporate the car’s lights, numerous sensors and radars, air curtains and spoilers, while mounted at the top of the windscreen is a separate LiDAR unit that allows for various advanced driver-assistance functions.
Inside, the E5 Sportback is supposed to marry cutting-edge tech with luxurious materials, so the doors have wood inlays and what looks like suede trim, while stretching across the dashboard is a 27-inch 4K display with AUDI’s own customisable operating system. Sections on either side also display feeds from the cameras that replace traditional door mirrors.
The AUDI E5 Sportback will go on sale in China this summer, with two more models already slated to launch in 2026 and 2027 as part of what Audi is calling its “largest ever product initiative”.
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