aerobd.news : Audi’s production plant in Brussels has begun volume construction of Audi’s all-electric SUV, the e-tron. The production-ready vehicle will be presented at the car’s world premiere, held in San Francisco, California, on September 17. Member of the Audi board for production Peter Kössler and managing director of Audi Brussels Patrick Danau attended the plant to watch the Audi e-tron models driving off the assembly line.

“The Audi e-tron is a genuine pioneer,” stated Kössler. “It features innovative technologies such as virtual exterior mirrors and combines traditional Audi qualities in handling and dynamics with technical Vorsprung that goes far beyond the car. Our Brussels plant was comprehensively modernized for the production of the electric car. This is the world’s first certified CO₂-neutral mass production in the premium segment.” Audi Brussels offsets all emissions from production at the site through renewable energy utilization and other environmental projects.

“Audi built up numerous competencies in-house for the e-tron and developed both the battery technology and the actual drive system itself. And employees rethought, planned and implemented many stages of production,” said Danau. The plant’s body shop, paint shop and assembly line have been extensively rebuilt, and battery production has been implemented. Driverless transport systems bring the batteries for the electric cars to the assembly line. The employees in Brussels have received more than 200,000 hours of training for production of Audi’s first all-electric vehicle.

source : Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology