Next up is the all-electric Audi R8 to step onto the new supercar platform

Audi Sport has started work on a new version of its current Audi R8, with reports suggesting that the supercar is set to undergo a serious treatment.

In order to reduce development costs, engineers were expected to be forced to adapt the current architecture of the Volkswagen Group’s electronics such as the MEB (ID.3) platform or the next-generation PPE platform that underpins the Audi Q6 e-tron.

However, Audi technology boss Oliver Hoffmann has revealed that will no longer be the case.

Instead of, Hoffman told Autocar that Audi Sport would go ahead and invest in a proposed new architecture that will use elements of VW Group’s upcoming SSP platform that isn’t expected to launch until 2027.

“I’m talking about luxury cars — sports cars and the like,” Hoffmann said. “We will use systems and modules from the (SSP) platform, or toolbox, and there is a chance to bring cars off the platform. For these cars, we will use modules or systems from the platforms.

Hoffmann did not confirm when the all-new zero-emission R8 will land, but said that in the next two years Audi will launch 20 new models and that half of those will be battery-electric – a hint that the supercar will be. may be sold by 2026.

The SSP architecture will eventually underpin nearly 80 percent of all vehicles across the Volkswagen Group. More importantly, the volume and shared costs will allow Audi and other VW-owned premium brands such as Lamborghini to invest in specific systems based on the main platform.

It’s not that the SSP won’t be able to deliver the level of performance required for supercars – far from it. VW Group CEO Oliver Blume has already announced that it can support electric motors that will produce up to 1300kW.

The R8 needs serious treatment because the SSP skateboard platform places the battery under the floor between the axles, forcing the driver to sit very high for a big, low-slung car.

Repositioning the heavy battery amidships also helps with power performance.