- audi is updating the e-tron electric suv's battery for the 2020 model year to provide more driving range.
- the technical upgrades come on all new e-tron models in europe, and audi says they will come to u.s. models soon.
- it has also added a less-powerful e-tron 50 model with a 308-hp electric motor and smaller battery pack, but this will not come to the u.s.
audi is updating its all-electric e-tron suv to give it slightly more driving range. for models in europe, audi claims that changes to the e-tron's battery pack provide an additional 15.5 miles of range on the european wltp testing cycle. an audi spokesperson told c/d that audi has not yet finalized the 2020-model-year e-tron for the u.s., but that the company is planning to bring similar improvements to the states.
wltp estimates are usually more optimistic than the epa ratings, but we can expect that these updates for u.s. models will improve upon the 2019 e-tron's 204-mile epa-estimated range by a few miles. when we tested an e-tron for ourselves, we achieved a 190-mile highway range, so we look forward to testing the updated model to see what it can do.
the biggest technical change is that the updated models are able to access more of the e-tron's battery capacity. the 2019 e-tron utilizes 88 percent of its 95.3-kwh battery capacity while the 2020 model will use around 91 percent. additional upgrades that help with the increased range include an improved cooling system and tweaks to the regenerative braking system.
the e-tron also recently added a sportback model with a more sharply sloped rear roofline and a less expensive e-tron 50 configuration with a less-powerful electric motor and a smaller battery pack. the sportback will be coming to the u.s. sometime in 2020, but the e-tron 50 will be europe-only.