Audi Grandsphere EV concept points towards 2025 limo
Audi has given a glimpse of the electric limousine of the future with its Grandsphere concept, which is planned to spawn a production version by 2025.
And it’s a very different limo, with no leather, no engine and an emphasis on front seat luxury.
The Audi Grandsphere concept is an all-electric limousine on long range luxury steroids that will almost certainly see the end of the long-running A8, providing the brand with an EV as the pinnacle of its lineup.
The Grandsphere is the first creation of the streamlined Project Artemis development team’s nimble thinking and processes and also leverages the Volkswagen Group’s Cariad software smarts to step up the tech and inject the limousine – which reports suggest could adopt the A9 e-Tron name – with level four partial autonomous driving.
Not only that, the Grandsphere represents a radical change of direction for an Audi limousine, dropping the traditional sedan silhouette for something sleeker and more stylish.
It is set to compete with the Mercedes-Benz EQS and promised BMW 7-Series EV.
Bold thinking for Grandsphere
Fresh from announcing it would only release EVs as new models from 2026 – and that its last ICE car would be sold in 2033 – the Audi Grandsphere is the clearest indication yet that Audi is thinking bold.
The Audi Grandsphere is the second of the company’s three “sphere” electric concept cars, the first of which was the Skysphere and the third of which is the Urbansphere, due to be unveiled in 2022.
Audi says the Grandsphere will form the inspiration for a 2025 production car that overseas reports suggest could be called the A9 e-Tron, adopting the e-Tron sub-brand and with A9 distinguishing it from the A8 that it is expected to replace.
“Grandsphere is definitely the representative of the concept vehicle trio that comes closest to a series project,” said Audi brand manager Philipp Gündert. “By the middle of the decade we will be able to present it to the public.”
Grandsphere: from the inside out
As with all limousines, the emphasis with the Grandsphere is space and luxury.
At 5.35 metres long and 2.0 metres wide the Grandsphere is longer and wider than Audi’s current A8 limousine.
And despite the sleek shape – which is more representative of a sports car than a limo – it promises loads of sprawling space in the cabin.
It starts with the lack of a pillar between the front and rear doors, the latter of which is hinged at the rear of the car.
It’s about making getting in and out easier.
Audi says the car was designed from the inside out.
The long and bold Audi Grandsphere concept reimagines the limousine as all an-electric car that can mostly drive itself.
Audi exterior designer Amar Vaya says having no engine or gearbox allowed more flexibility with the look.
“Being electric … we could have a lot more freedoms in terms of what we do with proportions,” he said.
No steering wheel – sometimes
But the level four autonomy also allows fresh thinking inside.
Level four allows full autonomy in some situations, such as around town and on a freeway, with the car taking control and allowing the driver to focus on other things. It’s only one step down from level five autonomy, whereby the car will be in control in all situations.
While the Grandsphere has a traditional steering wheel, it can be hidden out of sight by retracting into a compartment in the dash. The pedals also retract.
It’s all about freeing up space and allowing the entire sweep of the dash to be used as a projection screen for work, information or entertainment.
Audi says the front seats are “designed for first class comfort and space”.
That in itself represents a radical change of thinking for the limousine, which has typically put the luxury emphasis on the back seats.
“First class has now shifted forward to the front row,” says Audi. “Because it is no longer necessarily subordinated, first and foremost, to the driving function”.
That said, the back seat is more like a lounge than traditional car seats.
There’s even a small fridge between the seats as well as two glasses, which Audi says is made for soft drinks. No doubt some will think something stronger is more appropriate.
Plus there’s an emphasis on renewable and sustainable materials, including wool, wood and metal finishes – but no leather, something Audi says is “in keeping with a progressive understanding of luxury, which is always inseparable from sustainability”.
Tech injection
The Grandsphere is more about sitting back and relaxing than driving.
But it does so with elegance as the starting point.
There are no visible screens, with the main display screen instead being projected onto the wood surfaces of the dash.
And buttons and dials are minimal, with some on each door the limit.
Interior designer Maksymilian Nawka said “digital detox was a buzz word we heard very often” during the creation of the Grandsphere.
Even then, those controls can be activated by hand gestures and even eye movement.
“Science fiction movies served as a source of inspiration,” said Nawka.
The sound system creates “private aural zones” allowing people to listen to different audio sources without hearing what the others are up to. Kia is working on similar technology.
There are also virtual reality goggles in the doors for the immersive in-car experience that even utilises the movement of the vehicle.
Saddle up for the long haul
The Grandsphere also boasts big EV range.
Audi says it can travel 750km on a charge courtesy of a 120kWh battery.
The 800V electrical architecture allows up to 270kW of DC fast charging.
Audi says it will be able to glean upwards of 300km of range in 10 minutes, while a 25-minute charge will take the battery from 5 to 80 percent.
Performance promises to be none-too-shabby, either.
Two electric motors combine to make 530kW and 960Nm, numbers that Audi says are representative of what will appear in the 2025 production car.
That’s enough to propel the big grand tourer to 100km in a bit over four seconds.
Comfort guaranteed
The Grandsphere rides on 23-inch alloy wheels along with an air suspension system, something not unusual in the limousine market.
However, it also has fully active suspension, which Audi says can individually pull up or down on each wheel within milliseconds using electromechanical actuators.
The suspension is linked to the navigation system to proactively prepare for corners and gradients.
Plus there’s a camera looking forwards to scan the road and pre-prepare the suspension for bumps.
Different thinking
The big question is how much of all that tech will make it into the 2025 production car, which could be called A9 e-Tron.
The Grandsphere is the culmination of Project Artemis, which created a new division within Audi to create a “highly efficient electric car”.
Artemis was launched by then-new Audi CEO Markus Duesmann.
Audi said it was about giving the project team “a large degree of freedom”, effectively to allow the company to behave more like a startup in terms of shortening development times and bringing in new technologies and methodologies.
Duesmann said Artemis was created to “implement additional high-tech benchmarks without jeopardising the manageability of existing projects, and at the same time utilise new opportunities in the markets”.
The Grandsphere is also believed to have leveraged Cariad, a new software division set up by parent company Volkswagen Group.
Cariad is a crucial component of the level four autonomous driving plans for the production version of the Grandsphere.
