THE future of Audi Jamaica as an all-electric luxury brand began on Saturday, October 1, on Barbados Avenue in New Kingston as the brand launched its newest models, the e-tron and RS e-tron GT.

“This year marks our 25th anniversary for ATL Automotive, and our whole drive is to have products that provide mobility solutions for everyone in Jamaica no matter what level they’re looking for,” Adam Stewart, executive chairman of ATL Automotive Group, told the Jamaica Observer‘s weekly Auto magazine.

To that effect, Audi and the ATL Automotive Group are positioning themselves to be a top destination for those electric vehicle shopping in Jamaica.

“This is a new dawn, a new era for Audi. This was what we’ve been waiting on. This is the future of the brand. Audi come 2032 will be an all-electric brand, and so this is our chance in Jamaica to reduce our carbon footprint, to get to a point where we usher in the new era for cars. The internal combustion engine is now in the past,” said Damien Kerr, general manager, Oxford Road — ATL Automotive Group.

The e-tron is the Audi’s first all-electric sport utility vehicle. Crafted in the spirit of the top-selling Q5, the e-tron forgoes a traditional internal combustion engine for two electric motors. This gives the e-tron the iconic traction of Quattro, Audi’s famous motorsport derived all-wheel drive system as standard. There are two trim levels available, 50 Quattro and 55 Quattro. Power across the two versions is 312 and 408 horsepower. Torque is 393lb-ft for the 50 and 490lb-ft for the 55, allowing the 0-60mph sprint to be as low as 5.5 seconds. The 50 is rated at up to 341km of range while the 55 is rated at 441km. Both vehicles can accept DC fast charging and can recover up to 80 per cent of battery in 30 minutes. The e-tron starts at $18 million.

“We have sold a number of the e-trons already. We have a few more coming in this year, so it’s going to be hot. Just going around this evening I’ve gotten a number of interested parties and I believe the balance will be sold by the end of the month,” said Kerr.

The RS e-tron GT is an all-new beast, a sports tourer in line with its heritage of building performance-oriented four-door sedans with a coupé flavour. This is Audi first all-electric RS model, with the ability to easily meet the requirements of a RS badged car. Power is at a maximum of 630 horsepower and 612lb-ft of torque. This propels the 100km/h in 3.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 250km/h.

“The RS e-tron is a supercar for $36 million,” said Kerr.

Both cars contain the luxury features and quality associated with the Audi brand. Peace of mind comes via a five-year, ten-thousand kilometre warranty, and a five-year service and maintenance package.

“The battery warranty goes up to eight years and Audi Jamaica has two certified high-voltage technicians,” explained Kerr.

Kerr explained that there are several charging solutions for both vehicles based on strategic partnerships. E-tron users get a home charger, an account with Evergo to use their public charging network, while there are two charging stations at their Oxford Road showroom.