The new CEO of Audi, Markus Duesmann, has conducted an interesting interview with the American media. He brought to the table some of the most interesting current and future issues and has even anticipated that electric cars will have less autonomy in the future than today.
According to Mr. Duesmann, “Putting huge batteries for thousands of miles of autonomy, I am not sure that this is a trend that will continue. They will be smaller in the future because the charging infrastructure will be denser, and the customer experience will also increase.”
One of the manager’s problems is that the general public has some difficulties when dealing with the charging networks, especially considering the multiple requirements that many of them have to access from subscriptions, apps, cards, key chains, etc.
Something that will mean that customers need time to get used to a different system than gas stations. An aspect that for the manager will involve a transformation in a few years where consumers will not focus their demands on large batteries and autonomies but smaller models thanks to the larger charging network that will also have become commercially natural.
According to the manager, this will mean that the cars do not need large batteries; being able to opt for smaller, lighter packs and that will also mean being able to sell cars at lower prices.
An electric Audi A2?
These comments don’t seem like just a manager’s opinion but may be part of a plan to expand Audi’s electric car offering at the bottom. According to the German press, the A1 will be canceled because other brands of the Volkswagen group deal with that segment and with higher volumes.
Something that will lead to its possible replacement with an electric A2, which would be based on the AI: ME prototype presented in 2019, has excellent production possibilities.
Audi has yet to make a final decision regarding this model. The choice is difficult, as its two main rivals have radically different paths in the C segment. While BMW has ruled out the commercialization of a battery version of the 1 Series due to low profitability, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that in 2025 it will introduce a Class A electric.
Will Audi end up launching a compact and electric model? Well, let’s look at the statements of its executive director. The answer should be yes, and it should not take too long since the technology has been fully developed so that by 2022 its presentation and launch could be entirely feasible.