The Audi e-tron SUV we recently reviewed begins an onslaught of electric vehicles from the Volkswagen Auto Group and acts as a canary in a coal mine for internal combustion engines. Volkswagen AG houses several brands sold all over the world, but we’ll focus on the three best known that are sold in the U.S.: Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. Those three brands will use four platforms — that we know of thus far — to set Volkswagen AG’s EV future in motion.
The Audi e-tron SUV is unique, not only by being the first EV sold, but by using a modified version of the MLB platform. This platform is the starting point of several SUVs including the Audi Q5, Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Bentley Bentayga. The modification is adding the roughly full-bed-size 95-kWh battery pack, which becomes a structural part of the platform. At the moment, Audi is on the only brand to use this platform for an all-electric SUV.
Many of us wait with bated breath to see the upcoming 2020 Taycan late this year. And why not, with Porsche promising it will deliver more than 600 hp and have a range better than 300 miles? This sedan from Stuttgart uses a platform called J1. And once Audi saw it, the brand reacted like we did and decided to build the e-tron GT, a 590-hp version with a 90-kWh battery pack and almost 250 miles of range. Both vehicles use an 800-volt system, which has several advantages, including faster charging — Audi says 80 percent in just 20 minutes.
Stepping away from premium, Volkswagen is taking it one step further by creating a sub-brand called ID. These vehicles will be built on a new platform called MEB. VW already showed an ID Buggy concept, but the main vehicles we expect to see include a Golf-size hatchback and a Tiguan-size SUV. Audi is also using this platform for the just-announced-at-Geneva Q4, this one with a 302-hp motor and 82-kWh battery.
And in the 2022 timeframe, estimated, we’ll see our first PPE platform, the first one coming from Porsche in the next generation Porsche Macan. PPE stands for Premium Platform Electric and, like the Taycan and e-tron GT before it, it'll use an 800-volt system. We don’t yet know what Audi plans to do with that platform, but we know the Ingolstadt brand is co-developing with Stuttgart, so expect an announcement soon. And, weirdly, Porsche already announced that the second generation Taycan, the car whose first generation won’t be unveiled for several more months, will use the PPE platform.
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