A major waypoint on the journey towards electrification of the Audi model range has just been reached: Audi Brussels has this week begun volume production of the Audi e-tron. The company says its first all-electric SUV has a range suitable for everyday use, and thanks to its charging capacity of up to 150 kW can be primed and ready for a long distance journey in around 30 minutes using a quick-charging station. Audi will present the final production-ready car for the first time at its world premiere in San Francisco on September 17.

Audi Board of Management Member for Production, Peter Kössler, and Patrick Danau, Managing Director of Audi Brussels, witnessed the first Audi e-tron models driving silently off the assembly line. “The Audi e-tron is a genuine pioneer,” stated Peter Kössler, Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at AUDI AG. “It features innovative technologies such as virtual exterior mirrors and combines traditional Audi qualities in handling and dynamics with technical Vorsprung that goes far beyond the car. Our Brussels plant was comprehensively modernised for the production of the electric car. This is the world’s first certified CO2-neutral mass production in the premium segment.” Audi Brussels offsets all emissions produced in production and at the site, primarily by using energy from renewable sources, but also through environmental projects.

“Audi built up numerous competencies in-house for the Audi e-tron and developed both the battery technology and the actual drive system itself. And employees rethought, planned and implemented many stages of production,” said Patrick Danau, Managing Director of Audi Brussels. Since summer 2016, the plant has extensively rebuilt its body shop, paint shop and assembly line step by step, and has set up its own battery production. Driverless transport systems bring the batteries for the electric cars to the assembly line just in sequence. The employees in Brussels have received more than 200,000 hours of training for the first all-electric Audi.