Production of the V10-powered Audi R8 is set to end this year, though an electric successor is reportedly well underway.
Autocar reports this electric successor to the Audi R8 will be built on a bespoke electric vehicle (EV) architecture for low-volume sports cars and supercars.
Audi technical boss Oliver Hoffman said to Autocar that “future iconic sports – sports cars and so on … will use systems and modules out of the [SSP] platform, or toolkit.”
EVs on the long-awaited Volkswagen Group System Scalable Platform (SSP) architecture are understood to enter production in 2027. Mr Hoffman added by the end of this decade there will be a “wider portfolio based on SSP”.
R8 GT RWD
Once the modular platform has been fully rolled out Mr Hoffman said 80 per cent of the entire Volkswagen Group portfolio will eventually be based on it.
Porsche has already confirmed its upcoming K1 luxury SUV to sit above the Cayenne will be the first model on its own reworking on the SSP architecture, called SSP Sport. This flagship electric SUV is due in 2027.
VW Group CEO Oliver Blume has previously confirmed the SSP architecture will accommodate electric powertrains with outputs over 1250kW. This suggests sports cars and supercars could be possible.
Audi insiders have told Autocar the electric R8 successor will follow a similar formula with two doors. It could also be partly hand-built, like the outgoing car which shares its platform and engine with the Lamborghini Huracan.
The current R8 is bowing out with a special edition GT RWD variant, with power bumped up from 419kW to 449kW.
Its seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission has also been retuned for quicker shifts, while weight is down 20kg and there’s a new seven-stage rear traction control system with a mode allowing for more rear-end slip.
Only 333 units will be produced but none will come here, with the R8 having been discontinued in Australia in 2021.
The R8 sold in Australia featured a uniquely tuned naturally aspirated V10 engine, but Audi ended production of said tune at its Hungarian engine plant and wouldn’t re-homolgate the car with a different engine.
MORE: Everything Audi R8
