Audi to reveal concept of first large electric production auto at Frankfurt

With the surprising global success of Tesla quickly dominating the electronic auto market, big luxury vehicle brands are now seriously taking into consideration joining the foray to pose a threat to the company’s latest Model X. Like Tesla’s Model X, Audi designed the e-tron quattro SUV concept from the ground up as an electric vehicle.

The Audi e-tron quattro concept will debut next month in Frankfurt – and we’ll doubtless get a proper reveal before then – but it’s probably going to be a couple of years before we see a production Audi Q6 EV. The SUV with all-electric drive will be in series production from 2018. The concept featured an aggressive front end, incorporated the signature Audi single-frame grille and was much wider and lower than before. Stepping inside the “spacious interior”, it has enough room for four people and comes packed with OLED screens, including two in the back for the rear passengers. Past year in november Audi also released a similarly striking concept called the Prologue. Around that, Audi has developed a set of movable aerodynamic styling features, which can adjust how air flows around the front, sides, and rear of the vehicle. A reasonable rating for the Q6 e-tron here might be 240 miles or so.

Automakers have watched Tesla carve out a luxury electric vehicle niche and are preparing their own entries, said Thilo Koslowski, vice president and automotive practice leader at Gartner Inc.  Now Tesla sells only the Model S, the game-changing sedan driven by Hollywood players including Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg.