Drives.today

Electric TT could be spun off Cayman... big SUV and A8… R8 EV rumoured

As you will see in this month’s Future Scoop, Lamborghini is set to enjoy some extra freedom to stick with combustion engines a little longer than most of the VW Group’s premium brands. Which makes sense, but there are knock-on effects for Bentley and Porsche, who will have to think again about pooled resources and shared costs.

Audi had, until recently, been expecting to benefit from a plan in which Lamborghini would adapt Porsche’s 2024 battery-powered Cayman replacement into a fully electric Uracco for 2025. That, in turn, would have been morphed by Audi into an electric TT in 2027. Now, if Audi wants to go ahead with that always-tentative electric TT, it must do the job itself. Adding to the confusion, the next-generation Lamborghini Huracan, codenamed LB63X, is set to have a 4.0-litre V8 engine – developed in house – and yet will be adaptable enough to provide the basis of a fully electric new Audi R8. While the body-in-white – complete with steering, brakes and suspension – is virtually identical from the nose to the B-pillars, the future R8 boasts a T-shaped 90kWh battery stack in place of the V8, sources say. Rated at 800bhp-plus, the 1800kg coupe due in 2025 can allegedly accelerate in 2.2sec from 0-62mph.

Things look slightly more straightforward when it comes to big SUVs. Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini are all, I’m told, working on a fully electric Q7/Cayenne/Urus replacement, which could be in production before the end of the decade, using a version of the SSP platform. That’s the next-generation VW Group all-electric, fully digital, highly scalable platform due in 2026. Also expect an all-electric A8 replacement by the end of the decade.

Electric R8 could be derived from V8 Lambo 

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