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MUNICH — Although global automakers are in the midst of major electrification, some of the most ambitious timelines for abandoning the internal combustion engine now seem unrealistic. This is due to a number of factors, but the relative lack of charging infrastructure and the even higher charging of lithium-ion batteries contributes to this. With ICE still on the menu for at least the next decade, Audi has developed a new platform, and the first style to design will be the upcoming Audi A5, expected in US dealerships through the next summer.
Audi’s long-term styling nomenclature has recently undergone a slight change. In the past, even-numbered cars like the A4, A6 and A8 were (mostly) sedans, and the odd-numbered styles (the A5 and A7) were other frame styles, adding five-door fastbacks, known as sportbacks. at Audi. speak, but also coupes and convertibles. (The exception to this is the estate variants, also known as Avants, which were the A4 and A6).
Forget all that. Now all even-numbered Audis are battery electric vehicles, with odd-numbered Audi designations reserved for gasoline, diesel, and hybrid cars. (The same applies to Q-designated SUVs and crossovers, but we’ll get into that in a few weeks. )
There has also been a modernization of the chassis styles, what Audi calls the “sedan concept 2. 0”. There will be no A5 coupe or A5 convertible. Nor is a classic “three-box” sedan; instead, the A5 is presented as a five-door fastback, as well as an A5 Avant pickup (but no plans for an elevated Avant SUV).
It is a larger car than the one it replaces, adding one inch (13 mm) to width, 0. 9 inches (24 mm) to height, 2. 6 inches (67 mm) to length, and the most noticeable to occupants, 3 . 1 additional inches. . (79 mm) to the wheelbase, which translates into a considerable improvement in space for rear passengers. The aerodynamic coefficient is very respectable, 0. 25.
Before developing this new platform, called Premium Platform Combustion (PPC), Audi evolved the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, for high-end BEVs with the Audi badge, as well as Porsche and, over time, Bentley and Lamborghini, with the Porsche. Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.
Audi engineers told Ars that the PPC does not take heritage from the PPE in terms of chassis or suspension design, but from the same fashionable electronic architecture that appeared in the PPE.
The new platform is called E3 1. 2 and its evolution has delayed the arrival of PPE cars and caused an update in the control of CARIAD, the software division of the VW Group. But those problems have been solved, and that means the new A5 has a very modern electronics suite, in which four rugged computers called domain controllers update the dozens and dozens of discrete black boxes that each take care of a single function like in older cars.
So the new A5 has the same “Digital Stage” infotainment formula as the Q6 e-tron we recently tested, with a pair of OLED screens (one for the main tools screen, for the infotainment screen), with a third optional front passenger display; Thanks to a smart screen cover, this third screen is not visible from the driver’s seat, to minimize distractions.
There’s also the same intelligent generation of internal and external lighting, as well as a full range of complex driver assistance systems and an augmented truth head-up display. But, like the Q6 e-tron, there’s no UI setting to have a map on the main tools screen, just the infotainment screen. This is a feature that Audi has brought to the industry and we’re not happy to see it disappear at E3 1. 2.
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