Audi Grandsphere Concept Coming in 2024 as Next-Gen A8
Audi began rolling out its exotic “Sphere” concepts in 2021. The Grandsphere Concept previewed an electric flagship sedan, and we’re now learning that it will likely arrive as an A8 successor in 2024.
Autocar reported that the next-gen A8 E-tron will debut in 2024, and feature only slight revisions from the wild concept car. It will ride on a new PPE platform, which Audi developed in collaboration with sister company Porsche.
Audi’s chief designer, Marc Lichte, told the publication that the Grandsphere is “a very concrete teaser. It’s not far away from what will become production. It’s not 1:1 but very close.”
It’s worth noting that the Grandsphere is significantly larger than the current A8, but Audi’s leaning into the concept’s grand touring roots rather than calling it a sedan.
Audi’s promising self-driving tech and a lounge-like cabin. There is no B-pillar and a wide-open front seat area, thanks to the fold-out steering wheel and switchgear. However, it’s unclear how much of the autonomous tech will make it into a production car, at least in the United States. The vehicle can be driven by a person, though, and its electric powertrain is expected to supply more than 700 horsepower.
[Image: Audi]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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If my head gets flatter I might consider this.
Looks like some evil Disney-invented automobile that roams the highways with evil intent. Fortunately, I will never have the shekels to spend on something like this.
The current generation Audi A8 was supposed to have "self-driving" since 2017. Audi put a ton of development into it, actually. Infrared cameras, laser scanners, surround radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, 360 degree cameras, a centralized computing system, etc.
Hopefully Audi actually gives us some level of "self-driving" this time around.
This is all I could think of seeing this. I saw it in the theater with my dad about 59 years or so ago:
https://www.popcorncinemashow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Mr-Sardonicus-1961-01.jpg