Audi's Q4 e-tron 40 SUV available Sept. 19, sans subsidy

Industry

Published: 06 Sep. 2022, 18:00 Updated: 06 Sep. 2022, 18:26

Audi's Q4 e-tron 40 SUV available Sept. 19, sans subsidy

Lynn Lim, managing director of Audi Korea, introduces the Q4 e-tron 40 SUV Tuesday at a press event held in central Seoul. [AUDI KOREA]

Audi introduced the Q4 e-tron 40 SUV for the Korean market Tuesday, with no government subsidy available.

It is the first all-electric compact SUV from the German brand and will be available in Korea on Sept. 19.

Equipped with an 82-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, the electric vehicle (EV) can travel 368 kilometers (230 miles) per charge. The car generates a maximum of 204 horsepower and 31.6 kilograms-meter of torque.

"The sharper design will be the first appealing factor," said Lynn Lim, the managing director of Audi Korea, during a release event Tuesday held in central Seoul. "The car looks quite small, but the interior is surprisingly spacious."

The sticker price begins at 59.7 million won ($43,400).

But the car is not qualified for the government's EV subsidy, though it is supposed to receive a full subsidy based on the price.

"We fell short of the government's standard in terms of the mileage in winter," said Park Young-jun, marketing communications director of Audi Korea. "Instead, we will exert all efforts to deliver the vehicles as soon as possible."

Korea's Environment Ministry tests an EV's mileage two times, at 25 degrees Celsius and minus 7 degrees Celsius. In order to qualify for the subsidy, the car's range during the cold weather must be 65 to 70 percent of the regular range.

All electric cars experience some degree of range loss in cold weather.

On Tuesday, Audi also released the Sportback version of the Q4 e-tron 40.

The car can run 357 kilometers on a full charge, and is qualified for the government subsidy. The sticker price starts at 63.7 million won.

Audi Korea sold 12,645 vehicles in Korea this year through August, down 14.4 percent on year. It was the No. 3 imported brand, holding 7.17 percent of the market.

Audi said all its new vehicles will be purely electric starting in 2026.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]