Audi hasn’t given performance details of the new PPE platform, but says it is “generally similar to that of the MEB”.
The new four-door coupé previewed by the firm is roughly A4-sized, with styling similar to the swooping A7 Sportback, and a front grille and bumper design that echoes the E-tron GT.
Audi wouldn’t confirm that it would reach production in this form with the PPE platform, though designer Parys Cybulski said the brief was for it to be a “statement”.
He added that the model was still in the early design stages, and that it “could be the most important car on this platform”, because it would help show the direction future models could take.
The company said PPE cars would start to be produced from early in the next decade with the Sportback model set to be a showcase for the architecture, which has been developed to cover the “upper medium-size class to the luxury class”. It will be used as the basis for crossovers, SUVs, Sportback models and estates. That suggests it will eventually be used for EV equivalents of higher-level models such as the A6 Avant, A7 Sportback, A8, Q7 and Q8.
The PPE models will be joined by cars built on three other EV platforms. The already launched E-tron uses a modified version of the MLB Evo platform. An E-tron Sportback will be launched soon, and Audi has hinted a third variant could follow, although they were tight-lipped on what form it would take.
The forthcoming E-tron GT will be a sister car to the Porsche Taycan, using that firm’s J1 architecture designed for high-performance models.
Audi will also develop high-volume models on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, which is also being used by VW, Seat and Skoda. Audi’s first MEB model, due in 2020, will be the Q4 E-tron.
