Next Audi RS4 will go electric as Audi Sport hits the plug

Audi Sport will reportedly intensify its switch to electrification in the coming years, with a new report suggesting that the RS4 will be the next to receive a hybrid drivetrain.

According to Britain’s Autocar, Audi Sport boss Oliver Hoffmann allegedly made the announcement at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week, though only when the next generation, expected in 2020 or 2021, arrives.

At the same time, Audi Sport Technical Development Head, Victor Underberg, hinted that the Performance models of the RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback could exceed the current 600 PS (441 kW) mark thanks to more aggressive use of electrification.

“Six-hundred is high, but if you say, ‘I would like to have a Competition [or] Performance model,’ at the end if the market is there, you can afford it, then you can make it,” Underberg told US publication Road & Track at the German showpiece.

The veiled hint seemingly confirms a report by British magazine, evo, who claimed in 2017 that the RS7 Performance will produce a claimed 700 PS (515 kW) using the 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine that produces 500kW/900Nm in the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid.

As it stands, the aforementioned engine, which adds a 48-volt electric motor for a mild-hybrid setup, in the ‘standard’ RS6 and RS7 produces 441kW/800Nm with both reaching 100 km/h from standstill in 3.6 seconds.

The introduction of both models, which will be preceded by the RS Q8 arriving soon, will come as a result of Audi Sport wanting to up its performance derivatives and rivalling the electrified models of arch rivals Mercedes-AMG and BMW M.

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