Audi’s new electric car may have MG parts underneath – report

audio reportedly set to secure the rights to the electric vehicle (EV) platform from Chinese luxury sub-brand SAIC Motor IM . engine.

According to the report of carThe German luxury carmaker has suffered delays on its Scalable System Platform (SSP) being developed by the Volkswagen Group.

This follows a report indicating Audi in talks with BYD and BAIC about using one of their EV platforms.

If Audi decides to use an externally developed EV platform, it will likely be used for a range of models based on the “Sphere” concept.

It is unclear whether models underpinned by an external architecture will be available worldwide or limited to China.

Existing vehicles on the EV platform developed by SAIC include the IM Motor L7 sedan and LS7 SUV. both are promises to launch locally in 2025 as MGs.

They are available with single-engine rear-wheel drive or four-motor four-wheel drive – the latter generating 425kW and 725Nm.

The L7 sedan has a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, while the LS7 SUV goes up to a 100 kWh battery pack. The range announced during the gentle CLTC test cycle is up to 675 km and 660 km respectively.

IM Motor L7 sedan has dimensions of 5098mm long, 1960mm wide and 1485mm high, equivalent to the size of bmw i5. Its chassis was also tuned in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering.

On the other hand, the LS7 SUV measures 5049mm long, 2002mm wide and 1731mm high. It also has a weight of 2630kg.

IM Motors was established in 2020 as a joint venture between SAIC Motor, Zhangjian Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group.

Audi has lagged behind both Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as Chinese companies, in the race to bring electric cars to market.

The company’s range is currently limited to three models. There is a selling volume e-tron Q4based on shared MEB architecture with VolkswagenID.4 And Cupra was bornthe electronics GT sports sedan is basically a Porsche Taycan in a business suit, and Electronic Q8uses the MLB architecture originally developed for petrol and diesel cars.

In China there is also an e-tron Q2L, which combines a 100kW/290Nm electric motor with a 38kWh battery pack from CATL.

As the Volkswagen Group has expanded to include brands from Skoda and Seat to Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti, the company has embraced platform sharing to reduce costs and improve economies of scale.

Until recently, all of these architectures – including the MEB EV platform, the MQB front- and all-wheel drive ICE platform, and the MLB vertical ICE platform – were developed in-house. Rising development costs led the team to start looking beyond.

Currently, Volkswagen and Ford have an extensive partnership, with Ford developing the platform for Amarok And forest ranger utes, as well as Customize transit and coming soon Carrier T7 van.

In contrast, Volkswagen caddy serves as the foundation for the latest Transit Connect, and Volkswagen’s MEB platform lies underneath Ford Explorer for Europe only and an undisclosed coupe crossover.

In addition, Volkswagen has Bugatti pickup for rival Rimac in a complicated transaction in which Porsche took a large minority stake in the Croatian supercar maker.

THAN: Audi wants Chinese know-how for its electric cars – report