The EV has typical concept details like side cameras instead of mirrors, a front fascia that can project animations onto the road and hyper-imposing 23-inch wheels. The "functional, reductive" interior features futuristic touch displays on the center console, dash and even the doors to display the side-camera info. The styling screams "electric car" for owners who want to show off their green bonafides -- as the gallery shows, however, the original design sketches were even more outré.

Audi said the E-Tron Sportback's Shanghai debut is a nod to China being the world's largest EV market. "There are already about 150,000 charging stations in the country, with another 100,000 due to come on stream by the end of 2017," says Audi's Dietmar Voggenreiter. "In the next five years we will be offering five E-Tron models in China, including purely battery-powered vehicles with ranges well in excess of 500 km (311 miles)."

Given that Audi will launch the E-Tron Sportback for real in less than two years, expect the production model to look much the concept, minus things like the far-out interior, side cameras and massive wheels. We'd guess it'll be priced similarly to Tesla's Model X, but we'll have a better idea once Audi unveils its first E-Tron car sometime in 2018.