Audi is one of the premier luxury brands globally, and the German luxury automaker is making a serious move toward EVs. In fact, Audi’s EV sales skyrocketed by 66% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to last year, but this isn’t great news.

Here’s a look at why that jump in sales is good and bad news for Audi and what Audi’s plans for the EV future will look like.

Audi is still feeling the effects of the pandemic and the shortages in sales

According to InsideEVs, Audi’s global EV sales saw a big jump year-over-year. In the first quarter of 2022, Audi sold just over 24,000 EVs worldwide. In comparison, in the first quarter of 2021, Audi sold about 16,000 EVs around the world. This means that Audi saw a 66% increase in EV sales year-over-year. 

Before Audi fans start celebrating, the bad news is that Audi sold significantly more EVs in the fourth quarter of 2021 than the German automaker sold in the first quarter of 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Audi sold just over 29,000 EVs worldwide. This means that Audi’s EV sales dropped by about 5,000 units between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. 

This drop in sales was due to supply chain shortages that have done a lot of damage to the auto industry and coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns in China. As a result, this drop in sales affected all aspects of Audi, including its regular cars. Overall, Audi saw a 16.8% drop in sales, and in terms of EVs, Audi saw a 16.7% drop between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. 

How Audi will approach EV future sales

In any case, Audi is still investing heavily in EVs, as EVs will be the future of the automotive industry. According to InsideEVs, EVs currently represent about 6.3% of Audi’s total sales. While the supply chain shortages will still hurt, Audi can sell a six-figure amount of EVs this year. And this is only the beginning.

Audi plans on spending about $19 billion on electrification and hybridization between 2022 and 2026, according to InsideEVs. By 2025, Audi plans to have 20 EV models on its lineup. And then, in 2026, every single new car coming from Audi will be an EV. As a result of these plans, Audi already has quite a few EVs on the horizon, though many more have yet to be announced. 

Here’s a look at upcoming Audi EVs

While the German automaker has quite a few fascinating concept EVs, some are close to being available at dealerships. One of those is the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron, and it should be available at some point in 2022. This Audi SUV isn’t that remarkable in terms of specs, but it costs about $45,000. 

That relatively affordable price tag will get customers a 201 hp electric motor paired with a 77-kWh battery. This will allow the Audi SUV to get about 241 miles of range on a single charge. Customers can choose a more powerful and slightly longer-range version of the car for $51,000. It’ll come with an all-wheel drive motor that generates 295 hp and a range of about 250 miles.

The A6 e-tron is also close to production, and it’ll have two electric motors that’ll give the Audi 475 hp combined. It’ll also have all-wheel drive, and its range could be about 400 miles.