The Updated Audi Q7 and Q8 Have Become Powerful Plug-in Hybrids Aud…
The Updated Audi Q7 and Q8 Have Become Powerful Plug-in Hybrids
Audi has introduced new hybrid versions into the updated Q7 and Q8 model lineup. The SUVs, 55 TFSI e quattro and 60 TFSI e quattro, are equipped with a 3.0 V6 engine (340 hp, 450 Nm), new electric motors (178 hp, 460 Nm), and more powerful traction batteries consisting of six packs with 17 elements each, placed under the trunk floor. The battery capacity has increased to 25.9 kWh, which has also extended the electric driving range up to 90 kilometers in the WLTP EAER City cycle or 85 kilometers in the combined WLTP EAER cycle.
The 55 TFSI e quattro models have a combined power of 394 horsepower and 600 Nm of torque, while the 60 TFSI e quattro models produce 490 horsepower and 700 Nm. Previously, the power was slightly lower: 381 and 462 horsepower with the same torque figures. The less powerful versions accelerate from zero to a hundred in 5.7 seconds, and the more powerful ones in exactly five seconds. Average fuel consumption depends on the battery charge level. With a full battery, it is about one and a half liters per hundred kilometers. However, when the battery is depleted, the vehicles require 9–11 liters of gasoline to travel one hundred kilometers.
All hybrids have an electronic limiter that activates at 240 kilometers per hour, but in electric mode, the SUVs only accelerate up to 135 km/h. The charging device power is 7.4 kilowatt-hours. With this, charging the battery to 100 percent takes up to 3 hours and 45 minutes. A new feature offered is the choice of driving mode at startup: fully electric or hybrid, with two operating settings: Auto (balanced operation of the internal combustion engine and electric motor) and Hold (maintaining the battery charge at a specified level).
In charging mode, hybrids use only the recuperation system to restore energy, with a braking power reaching up to 80 kilowatts. Decelerations up to 0.3 g are processed by electric motors, so mechanical brakes are only needed in very rare cases. The SUVs' equipment includes, among other things, matrix lights with a choice of one of four light signatures, various suspension options, and for the first time in hybrids, all-wheel steering and electromechanical stabilizers eAWS.
Sales of the Audi Q7 TFSI e quattro and Q8 TFSI e quattro are planned to begin at the end of this month. The starting price for the Q7 55 TFSI e quattro is 85,500 euros, and for the 60 TFSI e quattro, it is 96,000 euros. Meanwhile, the Q8 55 TFSI e quattro will cost at least 92,900 euros, and the Q8 60 TFSI e quattro 103,200 euros.
