Until now, anyone who wants to charge their Audi E-Tron with direct current has required a lot of patience. A new option now allows significantly shorter loading times.
For Audi's electric SUV E-Tron and E-Tron Sportback, the output of alternating current charges can be doubled in the future. This becomes possible if a second on-board charger is ordered at a price of 1.623 euros, with which the charging power, which was previously limited to 11 kW, increases to 22 kW. This option is initially available for the top engine 55, from summer 2021 it will also be available for the weaker version 50.
The new Connect charging system (22 euros), which is designed for the home garage and has a wall bracket, touch display and an app control function thanks to WiFi technology, is also designed for 1.238 kW of power. With the charging station, charging with alternating current takes 5 hours. The system can be combined with the home energy management systems from SMA Solar Technology or the Hager Group, which can take into account other consumers in the household as well as cheap electricity or solar electricity from an in-house PV system when charging the vehicle.
As a further innovation, Audi has revised the steering wheel for the E-Tron models. In future, it will be sufficient to lightly touch the capacitive rim once a minute to maintain the lateral guidance of the adaptive driver assistant.