This is the last year for the Audi A4 in North America. Audi essentially killed its longstanding sedan when the company announced it would start using even numbers to designate electric vehicles, consolidating the gas-powered A4 into the new A5. Despite the model’s demise, Audi says the A4 will return—we might just have to wait a few years.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner, who has been adamant about the brand’s missteps, confirmed earlier this year that the automaker is developing a new A4 EV. He provided no details but claimed the car would be part of "the biggest change in the history of the company," with the Concept C leading the way.
The new A4 will use Volkswagen Group’s Scalable Systems Platform, which was supposed to hit the market in 2026. VW Group had to delay the launch of the architecture due to software issues, so the first car to ride on the platform is expected to arrive in late 2027, with more launches in 2028.
The A4 will be one of those models, but until we’re closer to its launch, we’re left collecting clues as to what we might expect. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming next-generation Audi A4 electric sedan.
What Will Audi Call It?
Audi will call its new EV the A4, and it’ll likely serve as the brand’s entry point, depending on price. The sedan entered production in 1994 and survived five generations, with the last generation going on sale in 2016.
Audi reverted to its old naming scheme earlier this year, with the model names designating the vehicle’s position in the lineup. Audi will use suffixes to denote powertrains, with E-Tron for battery-electric vehicles, TFSI for gas, TFSIe for plug-in hybrids, and TDI for diesels.
What Will It Look Like?
The Audi Concept C, introduced a few months ago, is our clearest look at Audi's future design language. While the Concept C represents a two-door sports car, we expect many of the broader styling elements to spread across the lineup in the coming years.
The concept features sharp creases throughout the sheet metal and a vertical front end, which our A4 rendering predicts. Unlike the concept, though, the A4 wears proper headlights, a larger lower grille opening, a stubbier main grille, and squared-off front fenders. The rear-end also incorporates the concept’s slim taillights.
The Concept’s cabin is shockingly minimalist, with a single screen for the driver’s display, a row of capacitive touch controls for climate in the center of the dash, and another row of physical controls between the seats. We don’t expect Audi to make the A4’s interior this sparse when it hits the market.
What Platform Will It Ride On?
The new A4 will ride on Volkswagen Group’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform. It will underpin a range of VW Group models, including the ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf. VW Group designed SSP as an electric vehicle platform first with 800-volt technology, but it will also support combustion engines, which the automaker plans to use as range extenders.
What Will Power It?
Döllner said in October that the A4 would return as an EV, but he didn’t provide any specifics. While the Scalable Systems Platform can underpin vehicles with as much as 1,700 horsepower, we doubt the Audi’s compact sedan will make that much power.
What we do expect is an EV with dual electric motors, providing all-wheel drive. It’ll likely make around 400 to 500 horsepower, with hotter variants pushing closer to 700 horsepower, if Audi wants it to compete with the electric 3 Series that arrives next year.
Battery details remain a mystery, but the SSP can accommodate several sizes, so expect the A4 to offer a variety. It’ll have fast-charging capabilities, and it might have vehicle-to-load capability, too.
When Will It Debut?
The new Audi A4 won’t debut anytime soon. The platform that will underpin the model won’t arrive until at least 2027 or 2028, and we don’t know which make and model it’ll be. We don’t expect Audi to unveil the A4 until 2027 at the earliest, and it might not go on sale in the United States until late 2028 or 2029.
How Much Will It Cost?
The new Audi A4 will arrive after electric rivals from BMW and Mercedes-Benz hit the market. Both are expected to go on sale next year and will likely cost around $55,000 to $65,000 to start. Audi could similarly price the A4.
The new gas-powered A5 that Audi is selling costs just over $50,000 to start, while the current Q4 E-Tron is a smidge more. If the A4 costs more than those two models, it won’t serve as the brand’s entry-level model and upend Audi’s naming structure once again.
