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

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.)

There has also been a rationalization of body styles, something Audi is calling “concept sedan 2.0.” So there’s not going to be an A5 coupe, nor an A5 convertible. Nor a traditional “three-box” sedan, either; instead, the A5 is offered as a five-door fastback, as well as an A5 Avant station wagon (but with no plans for a lifted all-road Avant).

It’s a larger car than the one it supersedes, adding half an inch (13 mm) in width, 0.9 inches (24 mm) in height, 2.6 inches (67 mm) in length, and perhaps most noticeable for occupants, an extra 3.1 inches (79 mm) to the wheelbase, which translates as a decent improvement in space for rear-seat passengers. The drag coefficient is a very respectable 0.25.

Software-defined

Before developing this new platform, called Premium Platform Combustion (PPC), Audi developed the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, for higher-end BEVs wearing the Audi badge, as well as Porsche and, in time, Bentley and Lamborghini, starting with the Porsche Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.

Audi’s engineers told Ars that PPC has no carryover from PPE in terms of chassis or suspension design, but it does benefit from the same modern electronic architecture that debuted in PPE.

The new platform is called E³ 1.2, and troubles with its development delayed the arrival of the PPE cars and resulted in a change of leadership at CARIAD, VW Group’s software division. But those kinks were worked out, and it means the new A5 has a thoroughly modern electronics suite, where four powerful computers called domain controllers replace the dozens and dozens of discrete black boxes that each handle a single function in older cars.

So the new A5 features the same “Digital Stage” infotainment system as the Q6 e-tron we tested recently, with a pair of OLED screens (one for the main instrument display, another for the infotainment display), with an optional third screen for the front-seat passenger; thanks to a clever screen coating, this third screen is not viewable from the driver’s seat, to minimize distraction.

There’s also the same clever lighting tech inside and out, as well as a full complement of advanced driver assistance systems and an augmented reality heads-up display. But, same as the Q6 e-tron, there’s no UI setting to have a map on the main instrument display, just the infotainment screen. It was a feature that Audi introduced to the industry, and we’re sad to see it missing in action in E³ 1.2.