Here’s Audi’s next A5—and all the stuff we won’t get in the US

Enlarge / Audi has a new platform for internal combustion engine vehicles, which will include the third-generation A5. (credit: Audi)

Audi provided flights from Washington to Munich and accommodation so Ars could be briefed about the A5, as well as two other models you can read about in the coming weeks. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

MUNICH—Although the world’s automakers are in the midst of a great electrification, some of the more ambitious timelines for ditching the internal combustion engine are now looking quite unrealistic. That’s due to a number of factors, but the relative lack of charging infrastructure and the still-high cost of lithium-ion batteries are both contributors. With ICE still on the menu for at least the next decade, Audi has developed a new platform, and the first model to debut will be the next Audi A5, due in US dealerships by next summer.

Now it’s a sedan

Audi’s long-term model nomenclature recently went through a bit of a change. In the past, even-numbered cars like the A4, A6, and A8 were (mostly) sedans, and odd-numbered models (the A5 and A7) were different body styles, including five-door fastbacks—known as sportbacks in Audi-speak—but also coupes and convertibles. (The exception to this has been the station wagon variants, aka Avants, which were A4s and A6s.)

Forget all that. From now on, all even-numbered Audis are battery-electric vehicles, with odd-numbered Audi designations reserved for gas, diesel, and hybrid cars. (The same applies to the Q-designated SUVs and crossovers, but more on those in a few weeks.)