First carmakers announce closures of factories in Europe due to the Coronavirus crisis unfolding on the continent. PSA will lockdown all vehicle production plants in Europe by 27 March and the French carmaker is not the only one.

According to an article in German media, Volkswagen is still having massive software problems with ID.3. There is apparently some risk that the market launch of the first MEB model will have to be postponed. The group’s subsidiaries Audi and Porsche are also having their own troubles, only with batteries.

The Global Battery Alliance wants to complete its planned seal for fairly manufactured batteries by 2022. A prototype should be ready by the end of this year. The aim is to provide consumers with significantly more information about the production of the batteries when they buy an electric car, among other things.

Audi has now presented the more powerful S variants of the e-tron and e-tron Sportback with three electric motors. Their drive layout is based on the concept with two different asynchronous motors (ASM), designed as a modular system from the beginning of the e-tron series.

Audi is completely stopping production of the e-tron in Brussels for a few days due to supply chain issues. Short-time work has been announced for the plant, as the company has confirmed.

Volkswagen and its partner association VAPV have agreed on a new distribution model in Germany for the all-electric ID. family. The agency model has apparently proven its worth in the fleet customer segment and will now be used in a similar form for private and small commercial customers.

The lower performance version of Audi’s first electric vehicle, the e-tron, will be available in the UK starting at £59,900, excluding the government’s £3,500 plug-in car grant.

At the Super Bowl in the USA, no less than four major carmakers advertised electric cars. While Porsche, Audi, GM and Ford had to pay over 5 million dollars for a 30-second spot, another manufacturer received positive PR completely free of charge: Players from both final teams raved about Tesla in interviews.

Digital Charging Solutions launches a unified solution with partner OEM to enable EV drivers to access stations from more than fifteen domestic providers such as Podpoint, Source London, or Ionity.

Audi is making some major personnel changes at their Brussels plant, where the e-tron quattro electric SUV is manufactured. The jobs of at least 145 temporary workers are to be put on hold. In the worst case, this lot could threaten up to 250 employees.

Audi is bringing two plug-in hybrid models to the US market, the Q5 SUV and A8 flagship in the coming months. The carmaker says they come “at a competitive price point,” the Q5 plug-in hybrid especially.

Brazil’s EV charging infrastructure is moving ahead with both public and private actors. Volvo, BMW and Portugal-based energy firm EDP are among them, along with Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Siemens, ABB and Electric Mobility Brazil from Sao Paulo.

Audi wants to invest around 100 million euros in charging infrastructure to install at its own sites and is planning more than 4,500 charging points, most of which will also be publicly accessible. The majority will stand at Audi’s German plants with some at other locations as well.

Audi has set up the “Brand Experience Center” at Munich Airport. The building has integrated solar cells and two power storage units from 2nd-life batteries. The electricity generated is also used for one of the largest charging parks in Europe.

Audi and Umicore have completed the test phase of their research cooperation. According to this, more than 90 per cent of the cobalt and nickel from e-tron batteries can be recycled. Starting in January, the recycled materials will be used in new battery cells.

Audi has started advance sales of the Q7 TFSI e quattro in Germany and other European countries. The plug-in hybrid SUV is available in two power levels with 280 kW and 335 kW. In each case, however, the electrical range is not excessive.

Audi plans to invest around 12 billion euros in electric mobility by 2024. The Ingolstadt-based company has set itself this goal of increasing upfront expenditure in this area in their new planning round.

Audi has introduced a technology update for the entire e-Tron series. With a few adjustments to the software and hardware, efficiency is to be increased, which will increase the WLTP range by around 25 kilometres. However, it is not possible to update the vehicles already delivered.

The Formula E is back for its sixth season, presenting a whole a new battle between German carmakers as Mercedes and Porsche join Audi and BMW in the all-electric racing series.

Audi is expanding its e-tron family with a second body shape. With the e-tron Sportback, the German VW subsidiary is introducing a fully electric SUV coupé that can even (theoretically) drive a little further than the well-known e-tron 55 Quattro.

Volkswagen again accelerates its electric transformation. Planning Round 68 saw the Group increase the investments planned for 2020 to 2024 by 10%, that’s almost 60 billion euros to spend on electromobility, hybridisation and digitisation during this period.

According to a German media report, the Audi TT could have a purely electric successor. The basic sporty design is to be retained, but concept changes will include more than just the drive technology. In addition, Audi is apparently planning a direct rival to the Tesla Model 3.

Audi is expanding its range of electrified models to include the A6 55 TFSI e quattro. However, the plug-in hybrid can only be ordered for the limousine of the popular company car model – from just under 69,000 euros.

Audi is equipping its luxury A8 series with a plug-in hybrid drive. The A8 L 60 TFSI e quattro offers 330 kW system power and a purely electric WLTP range of up to 46 kilometres. As with the A7 PHEV, Audi intends to compensate for the shorter range by making greater use of the EV […]

In addition to MEB and PPE, Volkswagen is planning a third electric car kit that can also be equipped with a fuel cell. According to VW chief strategist Michael Jost, the new platform is to be used for all brands of the VW Group.

According to a media report, Audi has discontinued work on the autonomous electric car drone Pop Up Next, which was presented last year together with Airbus and Italdesign, and intends to reevaluate their cooperation with Airbus.

Audi has just officially confirmed that the production model of the Audi Q4 e-tron concept will roll off production lines at Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant. There are also indications that there could be a sportier version of the Q4 and a saloon among Audi’s other planned MEB models.

Starting next year, the Audi e-tron will be produced for the Chinese market by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture at the Changchun plant. Between 45,000 and 50,000 units per year are planned. Another Audi electric model to be produced in China is the e-tron Sportback.

Audi is sending its four-door Coupé A7 Sportback onto the road as a PHEV. In terms of battery size and electric range, other plug-in hybrids offer more than the A7 Sportback 55 TFSI e quattro. Instead, Audi is increasingly relying on EV mode.

According to the latest CAM ‘Electromobility Report’, in which 212 series innovations in e-mobility have been evaluated by 30 car manufacturers over the past five years, German automobile manufacturers still have catching up to do.