Following the reveal of the Skysphere and Grandsphere, Audi is now about to take the wraps off its third “sphere” concept. While the former was a roofless two-seater sports car and the latter a luxury sedan, Urbansphere will be a lot more practical. Judging by what is shown in the adjacent teaser image, we could possibly be looking at a minivan.
You can easily tell it’s a concept rather than a production model by the lack of B-pillars while the rear doors are hinged at the back. Fancy ambient lighting with long LED strips creates a cozy atmosphere by surrounding the occupants, while rear passengers benefit from an abundance of legroom. There doesn’t seem to be a steering wheel, which can only mean the Audi Urbansphere will be a fully autonomous EV.
The Skysphere and Grandsphere have more chances of entering production one day than the Urbansphere as the prospects of an Audi minivan seem slim. After all, parent company Volkswagen is already covering that segment of the market with the hugely promising ID. Buzz. In addition, the minivan segment is far less popular than it was before SUVs began to take over, killing conventional cars in the process.
Even if the Urbansphere won’t hit the streets, we’re quite curious to find out how an electric Audi minivan looks. We won’t have to wait much longer to find out since the debut is scheduled to take place on April 19. Chances are the Four Rings had planned to bring the concept to the Beijing Auto Show, but the organizers have postponed the event indefinitely in the wake of a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
All three concepts are more than just for show taking into account that design cues will be adopted by upcoming production models. We’re specifically talking about EVs since the German luxury brand is gradually abandoning vehicles with combustion engines. In fact, it will launch its last new model with a gasoline/diesel unit in 2025, meaning all products arriving from 2026 will be EVs. By 2033, the production of all ICE-powered Audis will come to an end. However, the Ingolstadt-based marque has not excluded the possibility of extending the assembly of conventionally powered cars beyond that date in China where it expects there still might be demand later in the next decade.
Source: Audi
