Audi Predicts Upcoming Electric Car Surge

Audi A3 Sportback e-tron (Credit: Audi)

The writing is on the wall and Audi’s reading it. The German luxury brand says that it expects 25 percent of its U.S. sales to be from electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid models by 2025. This estimate comes directly from Scott Keogh, President of Audi of America, so it isn’t just rumor.

Motivating this surge in electrified vehicles is none other than good old fashioned government regulation. Thanks to ever-increasing emissions standards both on the federal level and more specifically in the state of California, Audi will essentially be forced to turn more towards partial and completely zero-emissions vehicles.

As the biggest automotive market in the nation, California is a force to be reckoned with. For decades it’s been the leader in pushing for stricter emissions standards, and automakers who roll with it instead of fighting the laws have reaped the benefits.

The first mainstream plug-in vehicle to wear the Audi badge in the United States is on its way, the 2016 A3 Sportback e-tron. Europeans have been enjoying this model for a while now. You can call it a compliance vehicle, but it’s paving the way for a brighter and cleaner future.

After that, the Q7 e-tron will arrive, also in 2016. The plug-in hybrid SUV has three rows and will offer an alternative to the unexpectedly popular 2016 Volvo XC90, which can also be had in plug-in form.

A production version of the e-tron quattro concept from this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show will also be coming to America. Instead of a hybrid, the SUV will be all-electric. Consumers will have to wait until 2018 to get their hands on the vehicle.

Expect more plug-in and all-electric Audi vehicles to be launching in the coming years, if the company is serious about hitting this new target.

To support all of this electric vehicle growth, Audi USA is working on a DC fast-charging stations network. Supposedly, a viable network will be fully operational by the time the all-electric SUV launches in a couple of years.