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German luxury carmaker Audi is expecting electric cars to account for 15 per cent of its total sales in India by 2025, according to Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India.
Audi, on Thursday, kicked off its electric vehicle journey in India with the launch of three new all-electric SUVs under its e-tron range.
“What we wish to achieve by 2025 is 15 per cent of all the cars that we'll be selling in India will be electric cars,” Dhillon said on the sidelines of the launch.
“This is just the start of Audi India’s electric journey and you will hear from us very, very shortly on our next EV offering,” he said. “There is a clear road map towards sustainable mobility and as Audi India, we are committed to developing an EV ecosystem. We have agreements in place that cover aspects, right from setting up charging infrastructure to end-of-life battery recycling. The future is electric and Audi India is ready for it,” he further said.
Globally, Audi is aiming at eventually becoming an electric car company. Starting 2026 onwards, the company will only launch electric cars. It will continue to sell cars with Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) till 2033, Dhillon said. The three all-electric SUVs, e-tron 50, e-tron 55, and e-tron Sportback 55 are priced at ₹99.99 lakh, ₹1.16 crore, and ₹1.18 crore respectively (all prices ex-showroom).
Charging facilities
In a bid to help ramp up the charging infrastructure in the country and to help ease customers’ range anxiety, Audi will offer a complementary wall box charger in addition to the 11kW portable charger that comes with the car through 2021. Select Audi India dealerships will be equipped with a 50kW DC fast charger.
Audi e-tron customers can avail of complementary charging at any Audi India dealership through 2021. It also plans to set up 100 chargers across the country in 75 key cities over the next few months. Customers can find all the charging stations compatible with the ‘myAudiconnect’ app and plan intercity trips accordingly.
Waiting period
Talking about the waiting period for the cars, Dhillon said, “We already have a certain number of cars brought into the country. So they will be available immediately if a customer wants to buy. But if somebody wants to configure the cars, it takes about four to six months depending upon what kind of configuration and some integration because of the semiconductors.”
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