Audi teams up with SAIC to promote the launch of electric cars

It is unprecedented, but the changes taking place in the automotive industry are bringing about many things that would not have happened just a decade ago. The prestigious German brand Audi, which belongs to the Volkswagen Group, is having serious problems launching its new electric models onto the market. For this reason, it has had to look for external partners to meet the challenges posed by electric mobility.

The company chosen to move forward in this regard has been IM Motors, which in turn belongs to the multinational SAIC. This is a brand that has specialised in the development and manufacture of premium-segment electric cars. Its experience in this segment of electric mobility will allow Audi to get around the delays occurring at Volkswagen in developing the new SSP platform.

This is the one the group is developing, with more advanced software, and it will replace the current MBE and PPE platforms. But it is not ready yet, and this causes the new Audi models to be delayed, allowing other manufacturers to get ahead and lose presence in the market.

To tackle the delay in developing the new platform, the platform underpinning the IM L7 and IM LS7 models has been chosen. It uses 800-volt technology and allows battery packs between 93 and 118 kWh to be installed. Under the Chinese CLTC homologation cycle, they can offer a range of up to 800 kilometres. The WLTP cycle, used in Europe, is more demanding and that figure will drop considerably.

The specifications of the Chinese platform come quite close to what is expected to be offered on the Audi models that are awaiting development. These include, among others, the Audi A6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron, which need a very efficient platform with very specific characteristics to maintain the brand’s standard.

This move is easier to understand when we look at how electric car sales are evolving in the Chinese market. Audi has barely added 3,000 units of its electric models. By comparison, BMW sold 21,646 units and Tesla, the big winner in this race for electric mobility, has added 137,429 units.

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