Audi R8 is no more - replacement will be electric with different name and more power

Audi will use the R8 reincarnation to assert its position as a leading electric car manufacturer and plans to launch the all-electric supercar in 2025. The design has not been signed off yet but the car is under development already and apparently it will be completely different from the current R8 - no similarities at all.

The current Audi R8 is slowly coming to the end of its life with the run-out model already planned to be the GT RWD version. Production is scheduled to finish by the end of 2023. The electric replacement will be the most powerful production Audi ever built and will follow the supercar recipe with 2 door body.

Sebastian Grams, the managing director of Audi Sport, confirmed the company is trying to create a car that offers the ultimate feeling of racing. Apparently 60 percent of parts for the new electric supercar are similar in specification to those found in GT3 cars.

At the moment, Audi R8 is built in the same factory as Audi E-tron GT and its RS version. It’s not an ordinary factory though, it is the Audi Sport factory formerly known as Quattro Gmbh and responsible for some of the most famous Audis ever created.

Once the production of Audi R8 stops, the small team of specialists building it will be involved in ramping up the E-tron GT production. Within a couple of years the team will be re-trained and will begin building the new, all-electric supercar. Audi wants to make sure it retains the talent to be able to deliver highest quality to justify the high price of the upcoming car.

Although Audi has access to many electric platforms, it is most likely to use one developed by Porsche. If the SSP platform underpinning the upcoming Macan EV can be scaled down, it would make a good choice. The other option Audi has is the still under development platform for the electric Boxster and Cayman duo.

Porsche is developing a first EV platform that mimics the current Boxster mid-engine driving characteristics by stacking the battery cells vertically behind the seats. This results in much lower floor level and still low center of gravity but highly concentrated - just as it is in a mid-engine powered car. That platform would represent a perfect choice for Audi.

Audi Sport is a highly capable outfit, it already showed its skills with the RS E-Tron. Although the car shares its platform with Porsche Taycan, it is completely different. The 637 hp electric RS represents 60 percent of sales of the E-tron and proves the customers are happy to spend money on cars that are different from competition.

Sebastian Grams already confirmed, the Audi R8 replacement will be more powerful than the RS E-tron, it will have better range thanks to higher density batteries and will be designed to be used on the track as well as on the road.

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