German carmaker Audi’s Chinese sub-brand AUDI has unveiled the E5 Sportback at the 2025 Shanghai Motor Show. The E5 is the first production Audi that has been co-developed with SAIC, who also owns MG and many other brands.
The E5 Sportback will be offered with the choice of four powertrains in rear-wheel drive and quattro configurations. It has a battery capacity of up to 100 kWh that develops 776 BHP and a maximum range of 770 km on a single charge. It does the 0 to 100 kph sprint in just 3.4 seconds. The other powertrain options put out 295, 402 and 570 BHP respectively. Because of ultra-fast 800-volt charging, one can get 370 km range with a 10-minute top-up.
The E5 is built on the new jointly developed Advanced Digitized Platform. Dimensions-wise, it measures 4,481 mm in length, 1,959 mm in width and 1,478 mm in height. At the front, the traditional Audi rings are replaced by AUDI lettering in the centre. A black loop circles the front and the rear, seamlessly combining all functional areas – lights (Matrix LEDs), sensors, air curtains, radar, and spoilers. It gets slim headlights along with position lights that feature more than 1,000 individual light units that integrate triangular light sources to form the distinctive AUDI Light Frame when activated. They remain hidden when inactive, only providing a mesmerizing glow.
On the interior, the E5 Sportback features a 27-inch pillar-to-pillar 4K screen that spreads across the dashboard. It features customizable screen layouts and everything is controlled via this screen. There are no physical buttons. It runs on the Audi OS powered by the QUALCOMM Snapdragon 8295 automotive chipset with 5-nanometer precision and the ability to perform 30 billion operations per second.
The feature list includes immersive speakers, ambient natural lighting, hidden AC vents with fragrance diffusers with three signature scents, 50-watt wireless smartphone charging and headrest speakers.
The E5 Sportback gets the LiDAR-based AUDI 360 Assisted Driving system comprising 29 perception hardware units, including a 100-line LiDAR with long-range detection capability, three long-range millimetre-wave radars, twelve ultrasonic sensors, eleven cameras, and several multi-modal sensing units. Additionally, it gets Adaptive Cruise Assist, Active Safety and Parking Assistance.
Following the E5 Sportback, AUDI will launch two more electric models in 2026 and 2027.
Link to Team BHP news