In early March, Audi shared “spy shots” of the facelifted E-Tron in the swoopy Sportback flavor and now we may be getting an official look at the conventional body style in updated form. The adjacent gallery has been notified of an E-Tron’s entry for the E-Cannonball in Hamburg, which took place last week. The homies from Ingolstadt refrain from calling the electric SUV a facelift, but that might be the case.
For starters, the Four Rings say it’s a prototype, which usually means it has new hardware that’s not currently available on the E-Tron SUV that’s been around since 2018. The camouflage – despite being essentially a livery – suggests that the vehicle depicts a model future. The red bits lead us to believe we’re looking at the hotter S variant with the tri-motor setup, but nothing is official at this point. Resculpted bumpers and a new pattern for the Singleframe grille further indicate that this is the facelifted model.
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Audi has already announced that the next-generation model will hit the market in 2026 and will carry the nickname “Q8 E-Tron”. However, the name change would take place as early as next year with the mid-cycle facelift for the current generation vehicle. Sources within the German luxury brand said Coach nearly a year ago, the E-Tron and E-Tron Sportback will get a major battery upgrade and more efficient electric motors to push range beyond 373 miles ( 600 kilometres), presumably in the WLTP cycle.
The Q8 E-Tron will be positioned above Audi’s upcoming Q6 E-Tron, which will ride on a dedicated electric car platform. The larger of the two electric SUVs is based on an adaptation of the MLB Evo architecture shared with the gasoline-powered Q8. Lest we forge this out of a Q4 E-Tron, the company is now also selling a Q5 E-Tron in China where it’s essentially a luxury version of the Volkswagen ID.6 three-row electric SUV.
Audi isn’t saying a word about when the E-Tron facelift will be unveiled, but the Paris Motor Show will take place next month. If we won’t see it in the City of Lights, perhaps the electric SUV will come out covered at the Los Angeles Auto Show in the second half of November.
