In North America, we’ve just gotten our new Audi A5. It replaced the outgoing A4 with a fastback sedan with new looks and tech, alongside a pair of engines. Most get a four-cylinder, but the S5 benefits from a V6. Over in Europe, however, a third option has emerged, and one that makes a lot of sense for the North American market as well. Audi calls it the A5 e-hybrid.
Specifications
- Divisions
- Audi Sport GmbH
- Founded
- July 16, 1909
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The A5 e-Hybrid Has Tons Of Electric-Only Range
Two power outputs are available for Europe right now — 295 horsepower and 331 pound-feet of torque or 362 hp and 368 lb-ft of torque — both coming from a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder hooked up to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and a permanently excited synchronous electric motor, which lives inside the gearbox. Both utilize Audi’s Quattro all-wheel drive system.
The new hybrid drivetrain makes some improvements on previous iterations, like those found in the A6 hybrid. Audi now glues the cells to the battery housing to increase energy density and cut down on the space needed for the battery. It’s slightly larger than the A6’s old battery, but offers 45 percent more capacity. Audi says the 20.7-kilowatt-hour unit will offer around 68 miles of range on Europe’s WLTP cycle. Typically, our EPA estimations are more conservative, so keep that in mind. Audi also boosted the battery’s rate of charge up to 11 kilowatts from 7.4 kilowatts. It’ll now take around 2.5 hours to charge the battery from dead as a doornail to fully juiced.
The A5 e-Hybrid Is Better All Around
Further changes round out the A5. Brake regeneration to aid in charging the battery has been much improved, ideally ensuring you’ll never need those 2.5 hours to charge the thing up. Audi says you can adjust the level of regen with paddles on the wheel, but you can also leave the car to handle it. The new e-hybrid will vary regeneration automatically based on the route programmed into the navigation system. Fully electric driving modes are of course available, but you can also simply leave the car in hybrid mode, then set the vehicle’s leftover state of charge via the infotainment, in case you’d like to reserve some juice for later.
TopSpeed’s Take
Audi isn’t going to sell the A5 e-hybrid Avant here. The station wagon (pictured above) will remain for Europe, in all likelihood. However, it’s significantly more likely Audi expands its new e-hybrid lineup, including this A5, to the U.S, and other North American markets. U.S. buyers have shown they like a hybrid, and the new A5 should be a no-brainer.
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