Audi sets sights on Artemis as new Tesla fighter A9

Details are now available on the Artemis task force for highly automated electric cars by Audi. The first project will be a luxury class electric sedan that is in development under the working title Landjet. Audi considers a positioning above the current top model A8, possibly as the A9.

As the German Handelsblatt reports, Audi intends to launch the electric sedan as a counter-design to the next generation of the Tesla Model S. The future top model of the car is to be equipped with a new software platform and offer a range of 650 km. There are also plans to develop offshoots for Porsche and Bentley based on the new Audi flagship.

Production and sales are scheduled to start in 2024 – rumours of a purely electric A9 were already circulating in July. The report of the business magazine goes on to say that the aim is an annual sales volume of 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles worldwide. The development of the car will cost “several billion euros”.

Audi had announced the Artemis project in May as an initiative for the “development of new technologies for electric, highly automated driving with a concrete model reference”. Markus Duesmann announced that the first step would be to develop a pioneering model quickly and unbureaucratically, just two months after taking up the position of CEO at Audi. For Artemis, Duesmann has mobilised a task force of automotive and technology experts, headed by Alex Hitzinger, head of motorsports and current driver of autonomous driving within the Group.

In addition to the e-limousine mentioned above for 2024, the mission also includes the creation of an ecosystem, including new business models around the car. In mid-July, there were reports on a project that corresponds to this description: According to these, Volkswagen is planning its fast-charge network throughout Europe, which will initially be open only to Audi drivers and later also to Porsche drivers. And above all: the Artemis project is to prepare the ground for this. According to Der Spiegel, this information came from “project circles”.

The Handelsblatt now writes that the 250-employee unit is to work as a racing team outside the ponderous corporate structure. The aim is to catch up on Tesla’s technological lead in the areas of software architecture, digitalisation and battery technology.

handelsblatt.com (in German)