COVER Inside line on next-gen Audi Q5

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STYLING

Q5 will feature evolutionary design language rather than an all-out clean-sheet look

EXCLUSIVE IMAGES

SPIED

DISGUISE

Next-gen Q5 looks to be a similar size to the current car, and this regular model is likely to be joined by a coupé-shaped Sportback

We spy next generation of Audi’s best-selling Q5

SCOOP Last hurrah for Audi’ s popular ICE-powered SUV is set to be bigger and better than ever

Avarvarii

● Fresh look and latest tech for maker’s biggest-selling SUV ● Promises ICE and plug-in hybrid power; there’ll be no EV

James Brodie

James _ Brodie@autovia.co.uk @JPBrods

ONE of Audi’s SUV stalwarts is due to be replaced next year, for a final time before the brand’s European sales go fully electric in 2030. It’s the new Q5 – Audi’s rival to the BMW X3 and Mercedes GLE. The mid-size SUV will enter its third generation in 2023, and it’s already been spied deep into its development programme.

While the larger Q7’s introduction in 2006 fired the starting pistol on what has become the expansive and arguably niche-filled Audi SUV line-up we have today, the Q5 remains the bedrock of the brand’s success in the SUV market. Globally, there isn’t a single Audi nameplate that sells in higher volumes, with nearly 300,000 deliveries worldwide in 2021 making it not just the German manufacturer’s most popular Q-badged model, but also its biggest seller outright.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this model, then. This is not a vehicle designed with one particular market in mind. It has to be popular in Europe, China, North America – virtually anywhere in the world that the brand operates.

Perhaps that would explain why current spy shots point to an evolutionary design language for the Q5, rather than an all-out clean-sheet rethink. Our pictures of development prototypes reveal a car that’s still based around a large octagonal grille flanked by slim headlights, but its nose appears taller and more squared off, for a tougher look. Stronger shoulders will be complemented by a rear end that features a full-width LED lighting bar instead of the current model’s split tail-lights.

The next Q5 doesn’t look too different in size from the current-generation car, with a similar wheelbase plus front and rear overhangs. Our exclusive images preview the regular version of the Q5, but a coupé-shaped Sportback model would seem a likely bet, too, given that Audi introduced this body shape for the current-generation Q5 only last year. Sportback styles appear to be exempt from a reduction in complexity in the brand’s combustion-engined car portfolio, as announced in 2019.

Inside, and in contrast to the evolutionary exterior, a next-generation cabin layout with brand-new infotainment and switchgear is feasible. Audi has never been a manufacturer that has stood still from generation to generation when it comes to its cabin architectures.

The brand has already electrified the Q5 nameplate with the arrival of the MEBbased Q5 e-tron in China, but this model is unlikely to come to Europe. In fact, conforming to Audi’s electrification strategy in Europe, there’ll be no nextgeneration Q5 EV. Instead, the new car will remain on a combustion-engined platform, with an evolution of the brand’s current MLB architecture employed for the next model. However, we can expect substantial upgrades for the platform, because it will host one final generation of combustion-engined models for Europe, described to Auto Express by technical boss Oliver Hoffman as “the best” Audi has ever launched.

At the time, Hoffman was outlining the technical basis of the next-generation A4 to us – a car also due in 2023 on the updated MLB architecture. Fundamental to the platform’s new offering will be an

“It’s difficult to overstate the car’s importance; it has to be popular in Europe, China, North America –virtually anywhere that the brand operates”

Rear of MLB-platformed newcomer features a full-width LED light bar instead of the current traditional tail-lights

Urbansphere set for the sp

Sean Carson

sean _ carson@autovia.co.uk

WHILE Audi is readying its new Q5

SUV, it has also shown its vision of the future with this, the Urbansphere concept. The car completes the brand’s trio of ‘sphere’ concept models, after the Skysphere opentop sports car and Grandsphere luxury GT that previews the company’s nextgeneration A8. The Urbansphere shares elements of those models’ styling, too, with a fully blanked-off ‘singleframe’ grille flanked by a pair of slim headlights that suggest how Audis of the future could look.

The MPV-like Urbansphere has been designed for use in megacities. It embraces

● Final concept in ‘Sphere’ trio ● Designed for maximum space

the concept of interior space – and at 5.51 metres long and 2.01 metres wide, there’s plenty of it. Counterhinged doors and no B-pillars enhance this feeling of roominess.

In the rear there’s a pair of seats that recline by up to 60 degrees, while legrests extend from the chair bases for extra comfort. The pair of back seats can swivel inboard to face each other in a more social set-up, while the headrests can also be manoeuvred to provide more privacy if needed, as per the set-up in a businessclass pod aboard an airliner. Individual monitors are mounted in the front seatbacks to cater for rear passengers’ independent entertainment needs. However, if the two occupants want to watch the same thing or take part in a video conference, a large screen folds down from the headlining.

In the front, digital read-outs and screens are projected on to the Urbansphere’s wooden trim inlays. Audi’s MMI touchlessresponse system also features on the car’s doors, consisting of a rotary control to flick through different menus. Users can operate this physically if the front seats are in the upright setting, while eye-tracking and

INTERIOR A focus on sustainable materials means Urbansphere is eco-conscious. There’s a huge amount of room and tech in the rear gesture recognition can be used to achieve the same result if the seats are reclined.

All this is made possible thanks to the Level 4 autonomous driving capability. At the touch of a button the Urbansphere’s steering wheel will retract into the dash.

The concept is based on Audi’s PPE platform, and is powered by a battery with around 120kWh of energy that delivers a projected 466-mile range. With 270kW charging, a five-to-80 per cent boost takes fewer than 25 minutes; 186 miles of range can be added in 10 minutes. The battery feeds a pair of electric motors delivering a total of 396bhp and 690Nm of torque, although Audi has not yet outlined any performance information.

updated version of the Volkswagen Group’s well known EA888 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, with 48-volt mild-hybrid technology and revised turbo systems.

Mild-hybrid tech is not new on the Q5; it was introduced as part of the car’s facelift in 2020. However, the powerful SQ5 diesel aside, which uses a 48-volt system, regular MHEV versions of the current Q5 feature a less advanced 12-volt set-up. The 48-volt tech would expand the car’s engine-off coasting and electric-boost capabilities from fleeting moments to being a key part of the driving experience, improving performance and fuel economy.

Diesel power remains popular in the Q5, and an updated 2.0-litre TDI option – also with a new development of the 48-volt tech offered on the current model – will almost certainly arrive as part of the offering. We can expect the SQ5 to stick around for another generation, too, also embracing 48-volt tech but allied to a turbocharged 3.0-litre V6, likely to develop more than 350bhp.

Electrification will play a starring role in the next-generation car, too, but beyond the expanded mild-hybrid offering, plug-in hybrid tech is as far as the Q5 will extend.

The current 50 TFSI e quattro already weighs in with a 17.9kWh battery, enabling up to 37 miles of electric running. It works with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine and an electric-motor system for a total power output of 295bhp and CO2 from 35g/km. Again, we expect incremental refinements to this system for the new-generation car.

A fully electric Q5 for this region won’t happen until the brand’s entire European portfolio is electric only. However, Audi will offer a full EV in the Q5’s sector, not long after the combustion car goes on sale. The

SPIED

Q5’s traditional bluff nose is now taller and more squared off, to give it a tougher look

“Electrification will play a starring role, but plug-in hybrid tech is as far as the Q5 will extend”

Q6 e-tron is expected to arrive in 2024, positioned and priced similarly, but using the PPE platform for EVs. It’ll share this technical basis with the upcoming A6 e-tron saloon, as well as Porsche’s next-generation Macan.

Although Audi has already talked a lot about the Q6 e-tron, the Q5 – not yet touched upon by brand execs – will come first. We understand that a reveal next year with sales also to start in 2023 is targeted, but most likely towards the end of next year. As such, the Q5 will not make its debut for around 18 months. Prices should increase slightly over the current car’s c.£46,000 starting price given the new Q5’s extra tech.

ace age

TECHNOLOGY

Grille uses LED lights to communicate with other road users

OFFICIAL

“Urbansphere has been designed for use in megacities, and embraces the concept of space”