Ahead of the unveiling of the e-tron quattro electric SUV next week, Audi is launching a new ‘e-tron Charging Service’ to enable access to 72,000 charging points by 220 providers with one card in Europe.

It can be complicated to navigate the many charge point providers and their different payment systems.

Audi says that it has a solution.

Seemingly building on Porsche’s recently launched electric car charging mobile app and service, Audi will offer its e-tron owners a single charging profile and card that will enable them to charge their e-tron quattro, or Audi’s other upcoming EVs, at 72,000 charging points operated by 220 different providers in Europe.

The German automaker describes the service:

“The service could not be easier to use: Whether AC or DC, 11 kW or 150 kW – just one card, the e-tron Charging Service Card, is all customers need to start the charging process. Many charging stations can also be activated by scanning a QR code with a smartphone. Customers complete a one-time registration for the service in the myAudi portal and take out an individual charging contract. All charging processes are automatically billed together at the end of the month. Customers can use the myAudi portal to view their current charging history at any time, review their current bills and manage their contract.”

Interestingly, Audi said that e-tron owners won’t even need a card starting in 2019. At that point, the charging stations will instead recognize their vehicle for billing, much like Tesla’s Supercharger network billing system.

Peter Mertens, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Technical Development, commented on the new service:

“The e-tron Charging Service builds confidence in our electric initiative. Following on from the Audi e-tron, in 2019 the Audi e-tron Sportback will be the second electric car to go on sale, followed in 2020 by the Audi e-tron GT from Audi Sport. We already have the right answers to many of the questions and concerns regarding charging,”

For now, the service has only been announced for the European market.

Electrek’s Take

That’s an important service to offer customers and it should save them some headaches.

Audi should be given props for actually pushing charging further with the launch of the e-tron quattro, which appears to be the first EV to support 150 kW charging.

They noted that the service will work with the Ionity network, which has 150 kW charging stations in Europe.

The German automaker is participating in the development of the network through its parent company Volkswagen.

In the US, VW is also deploying 150 kW charging stations through Electrify America.

Hopefully, they deploy a similar service in the US for owners to enjoy a similar seamless experience using the network and other charging networks.

Interestingly, Audi also noted with the launch of the new service that they will offer dual on-board chargers for the e-tron quattro in order to increase level 2 charging capacity starting next year.

We should get all the details next week when Audi launches the production version of the vehicle.

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