2020 Audi e-tron Sportback revealed in Los Angeles

Audi has unveiled the 2020 Audi e-tron Sportback Quattro on the eve of the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The e-tron Sportback features a slick coupe style design, combined with the spacious, high riding SUV platform from the original e-tron SUV Quattro all wheel drive model. As one journalist in our group commented, “its as if they took the body off the Audi A5 Sportback and fit it on the e-tron bones. Not far off really.

The new slick new design of the e-tron Sportback, with its aero friendly sloped rear tail, reportedly drops the drag coefficient to a slippery .25cd. Reduce the drag and energy consumption falls as performance increases.

The e-tron Sportback will come in two variations, the Sportback 55, more powerful than the other model offered, the Sportback 50. The 55 will come with the same battery and motor combination found in the original e-tron SUV, a 95 kWh unit bolted into ladder frame under the passenger compartment, power two electric motors. The pairing produces the equivalent of 355 HP and 414 lb.-ft. of torque.

The e-tron Sportback 50 offers a 72 kWh battery, resulting in a horsepower peak of 320 horsepower, and a driving range of 340 kilometres versus 450 kms on the more powerful unit with the larger battery. Interestingly, the Sportback 55 range is significantly higher than the 329 km range listed for the original SUV. Audi attributes the increase to the aerodynamic improvements and more efficient regenerative braking.

One feature not seen before was the use of digital matrix LED headlights. The stage was fitted with headlight arrays for the Sportback that danced about on robotic articulated arms. However the real merit of the systems was the ability to enhance driver safety. One feature of the system is being able to drop projected lines onto the roadway marking the outside dimensions of the vehicle, a great safety feature in tight spots. A more whimsical feature is its ability to theoretically double as a monochrome movie projector utilizing the more than 1 million pixels on the light chip.

Look for the 2020 Audi e-tron Sportback Quattro in dealer showrooms sometime before the 3^rd quarter of 2020, possibly as a 2021 model. Pricing has yet to be confirmed but rumors have the Sportback only slightly more expensive that the SUV version, which lists at $90,000 CDN.