This year, there is a new face in China's smart electric vehicle market - AUDI.
AUDI is Audi's global luxury electric sub-brand, focusing on the development of electric intelligent connected models. Relying on the cooperation results between Audi and China's top technology companies, starting from the Chinese market, it radiates Audi's influence in the field of luxury intelligent electric vehicles to the world.
The E5 Sportback is the first mass-produced model of the AUDI brand. It is a new masterpiece that collides the essence of Audi's century-old car manufacturing with China's top intelligent technology. It is an important milestone in Audi's global electrification strategy, announcing to the world that the luxury electric vehicle market has a new benchmark.
This new car, positioned as a luxury pure electric coupe, is also the first smart electric car with quattro. It not only continues Audi's brand core of "breaking through technology and inspiring the future", but also achieves the "harmony" of German craftsmanship and Eastern wisdom through in-depth cooperation with local Chinese technology giants, bringing an unprecedented luxury travel experience to young Chinese elites who pursue quality and technology.
After our test drive, the most intuitive experience was that it is a driver's car with good looks.
Original design that inherits classics and subverts tradition
Driving this car on a mountain road, the rate of people turning their heads to look at you is quite amazing. Of course, one important reason is that many people still don’t know where AUDI came from, but more importantly, the design language of the Audi E5 Sportback can be called a visual revolution.
As the first model in China to demonstrate Audi's all-new electric vehicle design language, it cleverly blends the sharp lines of the original TT, the sculpted proportions of the RS6, and the futuristic elements of the RSQ concept car, creating a low-slung hatchback coupe. The innovative design of the frameless doors and black ring structure not only integrates functional components such as lights, sensors, and air curtains, but also pays tribute to classic Audi design elements.
The front face adopts a round wheel arch design to break through the traditional quattro wheel arch style, and uses innovative Audi ring lights to give a new interpretation to the iconic integrated front grille, achieving a subversive breakthrough in inheritance.
As the latest masterpiece of the "Lighting Factory", the E5 Sportback continues Audi's lighting legend.
942 small light beads are dotted on the front and rear of the car body, together forming Audi's first ring-shaped star diamond light curtain. It takes "ring + triangle" as its core symbol, and the triangle element is extracted from the brand "A". It is both a tribute to the century-old genes and a gaze at future technology.
When disabled, the position lights appear like a faint starlight in the dark night, but when illuminated, they become a visual focal point on the road. The Intelligent Matrix Lighting System significantly enhances nighttime driving safety and comfort through precise beam control and intelligent zoned lighting, ensuring optimal road visibility while minimizing glare for other drivers.
The interior design is equally stunning, with a clear, horizontally layered layout that seamlessly blends luxurious materials with comfortable technology. The aviation-grade panoramic skylight seamlessly integrates with the intelligent experience. An immersive sound system, natural ambient lighting effects, hidden intelligent air vents, and a fragrance system with five exclusive scents create a tranquil cabin that is both luxurious and inviting. The intelligent dimming skylight, utilizing EC technology, offers 99.5% sunlight rejection and five levels of dimming, creating a comfortable all-weather interior lighting environment.
The quattro legend in the pure electric era incorporates localized innovation
In terms of power performance, the E5 Sportback perfectly inherits Audi's consistent sports genes and driving pleasure, and is a car that belongs to the driver.
Its dual front and rear motors deliver a combined 579 kW of power, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds, rivaling the performance of top supercars. The quattro intelligent all-wheel drive system, adaptive air suspension, and CDC continuously variable damping system combine to ensure optimal vehicle posture and grip in all road conditions.
The progressive steering system and rear-wheel steering, specially tuned for Chinese road conditions, ensure this long-wheelbase luxury coupe remains agile and capable on narrow urban roads. The Brembo four-piston high-performance brake system provides linear and powerful braking force, allowing drivers to enjoy the thrill of electric acceleration while also providing full confidence and safety. Chassis tuning, personally crafted by Audi's German engineering team, ensures the E5 Sportback strikes a perfect balance between dynamic driving performance and comfort: it precisely handles urban road conditions and cornering maneuvers, while effectively filtering out road bumps and maintaining track-like stability on long journeys.
What further demonstrates Audi's sincerity is that the quattro legend in this pure electric era has been incorporating the latest localized technological innovations.
The Audi E5 Sportback's revolutionary AUDI OS operating system, powered by the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 automotive-grade chip (5nm process, 30TOPS computing power), delivers a seamless intelligent experience encompassing cabin, driving, computing, and connectivity. The intelligent voice assistant, powered by iFlytek and Volcano Engine, integrates leading Chinese technologies, aligning with Chinese user habits and enabling more natural and fluid human-computer interaction.
In the area of assisted driving, the E5 Sportback has partnered with autonomous driving company Momenta to create the industry's first intelligent driving solution combining German electric luxury standards with a large flywheel model. 27 high-precision perception hardware units (including lidar, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensors, and multiple cameras), combined with the powerful computing power of the NVIDIA Orin-X chip, enable the vehicle to accurately identify tricycles and food delivery drivers in complex road conditions, achieving perfect adaptation to localized driving scenarios.
Also worth mentioning is the E5 Sportback's ultra-clear electronic exterior rearview mirror. This innovative technology significantly reduces the blind spots of traditional rearview mirrors, providing a clearer field of view in adverse weather conditions such as rain and snow, while optimizing aerodynamic performance and contributing to an increase in cruising range.
Pre-sales for the Audi E5 Sportback began on August 18th, with four trim levels available across the range, starting at a limited-time price of 235,900 yuan. This highly competitive pricing strategy fully demonstrates Audi's determination and sincerity in entering the Chinese new energy market. Amidst the surge in electrification and intelligent driving, and with the E5 Sportback set to launch in September of this year, Audi is confidently embracing the opportunities and challenges of the electrification era.
