Audi
MUNICH—Although the world’s automakers are in the midst of a great electrification, some of the more ambitious timelines for ditching the internal combustion engine are now looking quite unrealistic. That’s due to a number of factors, but the relative lack of charging infrastructure and the still-high cost of lithium-ion batteries are both contributors. With ICE still on the menu for at least the next decade, Audi has developed a new platform, and the first model to debut will be the next Audi A5, due in US dealerships by next summer.
Now it’s a sedan
Audi’s long-term model nomenclature recently went through a bit of a change. In the past, even-numbered cars like the A4, A6, and A8 were (mostly) sedans, and odd-numbered models (the A5 and A7) were different body styles, including five-door fastbacks—known as sportbacks in Audi-speak—but also coupes and convertibles. (The exception to this has been the station wagon variants, aka Avants, which were A4s and A6s.)
Forget all that. From now on, all even-numbered Audis are battery-electric vehicles, with odd-numbered Audi designations reserved for gas, diesel, and hybrid cars. (The same applies to the Q-designated SUVs and crossovers, but more on those in a few weeks.)
There has also been a rationalization of body styles, something Audi is calling “concept sedan 2.0.” So there’s not going to be an A5 coupe, nor an A5 convertible. Nor a traditional “three-box” sedan, either; instead, the A5 is offered as a five-door fastback, as well as an A5 Avant station wagon (but with no plans for a lifted all-road Avant).
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The design team wanted the car to have a light and shadow interaction, and it’s quite different to the slab-sided A4 you probably remember.
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The new roof is more curved than the old A5, Audi adding extra height rather than taking away rear headroom.
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The power bulges on the hood are as much about leaving room above the engine block for pedestrian safety regulations as they are about making the car look powerful.
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Audi was at pains to point out that the A5 has real exhaust tips, not fake ones. In fact, all the vents and ducts are functional.
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The S5 gets quad pipes.
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The recessed door handles help the A5 achieve a drag coefficient of 0.25.
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It’s a larger car than the one it supersedes, adding half an inch (13 mm) in width, 0.9 inches (24 mm) in height, 2.6 inches (67 mm) in length, and perhaps most noticeable for occupants, an extra 3.1 inches (79 mm) to the wheelbase, which translates as a decent improvement in space for rear-seat passengers. The drag coefficient is a very respectable 0.25.
Software-defined
Before developing this new platform, called Premium Platform Combustion (PPC), Audi developed the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, for higher-end BEVs wearing the Audi badge, as well as Porsche and, in time, Bentley and Lamborghini, starting with the Porsche Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.
Audi’s engineers told Ars that PPC has no carryover from PPE in terms of chassis or suspension design, but it does benefit from the same modern electronic architecture that debuted in PPE.
The new platform is called E3 1.2, and troubles with its development delayed the arrival of the PPE cars and resulted in a change of leadership at CARIAD, VW Group’s software division. But those kinks were worked out, and it means the new A5 has a thoroughly modern electronics suite, where four powerful computers called domain controllers replace the dozens and dozens of discrete black boxes that each handle a single function in older cars.
So the new A5 features the same “Digital Stage” infotainment system as the Q6 e-tron we tested recently, with a pair of OLED screens (one for the main instrument display, another for the infotainment display), with an optional third screen for the front-seat passenger; thanks to a clever screen coating, this third screen is not viewable from the driver’s seat, to minimize distraction.
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Audi has long been good at interior design, and the A5 and S5 are yet more proof. It’s a similar layout to the Q6 e-tron, but you feel more enveloped by the car.
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A separate infotainment screen for the front passenger still seems like overkill to me.
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There’s a decent amount of room in the back, including rear headroom.
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Here’s a look at a different trim interior.
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The Sportback body style means it looks like it has a bit of a trunk but actually it’s got a hatch.
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The door has quite a lot of buttons.
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There’s also the same clever lighting tech inside and out, as well as a full complement of advanced driver assistance systems and an augmented reality heads-up display. But, same as the Q6 e-tron, there’s no UI setting to have a map on the main instrument display, just the infotainment screen. It was a feature that Audi introduced to the industry, and we’re sad to see it missing in action in E3 1.2.
