Audi has taken the wraps off a brand new SUV that the company hopes will propel it into a new segment in 2018, at the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit last week. Audi says the Q8 will combine the spaciousness of an SUV with the elegance of a coupé. The Q8 is 5.02 metres long, 2.04 metres wide and 1.7 metres tall, which makes the Q8 slightly smaller than but wider than the Q7 and nearly as tall.
Visually, the most distinguishing feature of this concept is the octagonal single frame with honeycomb, which is wider than in current Audi models. The flat wedge shaped headlamps are open with only individual lighting units sporting glass covers. The highlight of the digital Matrix laser technology for both low and high beams is an X-shaped blue laser signature that is unique to the Q8. To create the athleticism of the SUV, Audi has drawn inspiration from the Ur-quattro from the 1980s. At the rear however Audi has looked to the future for inspiration; the strip of lights over the entire width of the rear end is part of the e-tron signature.
Inside, the Q8 concept can seat four adults (we would wager that the production version will have seating for five) while the distinctly horizontal instrumentation descends in steps towards the interiors. The central control and display surfaces are embedded in the black panel of the SUV’s dashboard and the monitor becomes invisibly embedded when switched off!
The Q8 is a plug-in hybrid and uses a 328 bhp and 500 Nm three-litre TFSI petrol engine working in combination with an electric motor that puts out 100 kW and 330 additional Nm of torque. The resultant shove is good for a 0-100 kmph run in 5.4 seconds with a top whack of 250 kmph. Transmission is via an eight-speed Tiptronic. Audi is claiming a range of 60 km in full e-mode and a whopping 1,000 km range overall with emission figures of just 53 g of carbon dioxide per kilometre.