Audi e-tron Sportback 55 quattro

Owners of an Audi e-tron from the 2019 or 2020 model years can now travel farther on a single charge. A new software update offers an efficiency enhancement that extends their car’s range by up to 20 additional kilometres.

Audi isn’t limiting newly developed efficiency increases to new models, but also boosting the efficiency of 34,000 Audi e-tron 55 quattro EVs already on the road.

Along with increased battery capacity, the new software update optimizes the control of the front electric motor. In normal driving mode, the motor at the rear axle is responsible for propulsion. For improved efficiency, the front electric motor is now almost completely disconnected and powered off – and only when more power is needed do both motors come into play. This makes it possible to even more effectively exploit the major advantage of the asynchronous motor concept, i.e., currentless operation without electrical drag losses.

The technology enhancements also improves cooling. With the update, the thermal management system, which consists of four separate circuits, regulates the temperature of the high-voltage components more efficiently. Modifying the control system made it possible to reduce the volume flow rates in the coolant circuit, thus reducing energy consumption. The cooling system is the basis for fast DC charging, long battery life, and consistent driving performance, even under high loads.

The first fully electric car from the brand with the four rings has been manufactured at Audi’s net-zero carbon-neutral site in Brussels since the end of 2018. By this spring, the e-tron had already surpassed 100,000 units sold. In Norway, the model was even the best-selling car across all drive types last year.

The current model year Audi e-tron Sportback 55 quattro and e-tron 55 quattro are now available with ranges of up to 453 kilometers (WLTP cycle) and up to 441 kilometers (WLTP), respectively. In addition to modified hardware, optimized software was the main factor contributing to the range increase.

The Audi e-tron has impressive charging speeds. Ideally, the car needs just under ten minutes at the charging point to achieve a range of around 110 kilometers; the Audi e-tron 55 quattro reaches the 80 percent mark after around 30 minutes.

The software update is now available and can be installed at Audi service centres.

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