Electrified cars to make up one in three Audi sales by 2025

Audi is betting big on electric and plug-in hybrid models, after announcing it expects “around one in three” customers will choose an electrified car within seven years.

The firm says every car in its line-up will be available as an electric model by 2025, with most being fully electric vehicles (EVs) and a “smaller proportion” being plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Audi predicts 800,000 customers will choose one of these ‘e-models’ in 2025; the company sold roughly 1.87 million cars worldwide last year.

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By dedicating around £35 billion to “strategic areas such as e-mobility, autonomous driving and digitization” over the next seven years, the company aims to be “number 1 among the premium manufacturers” for electric cars.

The first fully-electric Audi will be the e-tron SUV, for which deposits are already being taken. The e-tron is due to launch later this year, and promises rapid 150kW recharging, together with a 249-mile range measured under the latest testing criteria.

That will be followed by e-tron Sportback in 2019 and the e-tron GT the following year, with 20 electrified models launching “in rapid succession” by 2025.

Audi’s plans seem to be in-step with the UK’s ‘Road to Zero’ strategy, with leaked reports indicating all new cars sold in the UK by 2040 must be capable of travelling for 50 miles on battery power alone.

Announcing the company’s plans, Audi’s chairman, Rupert Stadler, said he wanted the marque to offer “full suitability for everyday use, no compromises, top quality and driving pleasure for the customer."

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