Premium Audi sedan built in Changchun joins electric era

The Audi A6L e-tron brings the long-running A6L family in China into the fully electric segment, extending a nameplate with roots in the country's premium sedan market.

The A6L e-tron is among Audi's China-focused models based on the Premium Platform Electric, or PPE, a platform developed jointly with Porsche for fully electric premium vehicles. The sedan is built at Audi FAW NEV's production site in Changchun, Jilin province.

The Changchun facility is Audi's first production site in China dedicated to fully electric Audi models based on the PPE platform.

Covering about 154 hectares, it houses press, body, paint and assembly shops, as well as a battery assembly shop that produces high-voltage batteries for China-specific PPE models.

The facility anchors local manufacturing for Audi's China-focused PPE models while adding to Changchun's long-established automotive industry base.

Audi puts the plant's annual production capacity at more than 150,000 vehicles, and the project supports demand for skilled manufacturing and engineering talent in the city.

More than half of the facility's core suppliers are located within 30 kilometers of the site, while a dedicated supplier park has been set up to attract parts makers and improve coordination across the local supply chain.

Inside the plant, production is built around digital control and process traceability. Digital twinning, BIM (building information modeling) and 3D technology were used during the planning and construction phase to test layouts, identify potential conflicts and reduce the risk of rework.

In daily operations, maintenance, logistics and manufacturing processes are interconnected via a single IT architecture, while key production parameters are monitored in real time.

This digital layer is matched by high levels of automation on the production line. The press shop uses a 9,100-metric-ton six-stage press line to stamp large body panels with an accuracy of 0.3 millimeters.

In the body shop, 824 robots complete more than 4,000 welds on each vehicle body, achieving 100 percent welding automation.

For premium electric models, the value of these technologies and processes lies in consistency. Stable stamping and welding help keep body geometry under control, supporting cleaner body lines, more consistent panel alignment and repeatable quality from vehicle to vehicle.

Consistent production is only one step in delivering a high level of fit and finish. For premium electric models, body panels, welded assemblies and supplier-sourced components must also come together with precision, from exterior panels and lighting components to interior trim.

That is where the plant's dimensional analysis and component matching center plays a role. Covering 4,500 square meters and backed by an investment of 16 million euros ($18.5 million), the center monitors body dimensions and verifies component matching from product development through mass production.

Its measuring equipment can reach a precision level of 20 microns, allowing engineers to detect small deviations in parts and assemblies.

The checks support the fit between headlights and bumpers, the alignment of doors and body panels, and the matching of interior components, translating manufactured accuracy into fit-and-finish details that shape perceived quality.

Beyond precision manufacturing and component matching, vehicle validation adds another layer of quality control, testing how electric models perform under demanding conditions.

At the vehicle energy consumption lab, engineers use a chassis dynamometer, a climate chamber and energy data acquisition systems to simulate road and climate conditions, with temperatures ranging from -40 C to 60 C.

The tests cover E-range, braking recuperation efficiency and the efficiency of the battery, E-drive and controller systems, supporting improvements in energy management and thermal management.

Durability testing subjects vehicles to accelerated road conditions. A four-post road simulation rig reproduces road surfaces such as washboard sections, potholes and speed bumps, compressing years of road wear into two to three weeks.

The process helps engineers identify risks related to fatigue, looseness and abnormal noise in the body, chassis and connection points before they appear in long-term use.

Other validation work focuses on core EV components and cabin refinement. Vibration testing is used on high-voltage battery packs and electronic control units to verify sealing performance, safety and operational stability under vibration.

Acoustic tests in an anechoic chamber help identify noise from the vehicle, E-drive and air conditioning systems, supporting improvements in acoustic comfort and performance related to noise, vibration and harshness.

Sustainability is also built into the way the Changchun plant operates. Yang Hai, vice-president of Audi FAW NEV, said the facility is Audi's first production base in China to be net carbon-neutral from the start of production and has obtained an ISO 14068 carbon neutrality certification and a domestic carbon-neutrality certification.

He said the plant uses 100 percent green energy, recycles all of its production waste and reuses all wastewater from production and daily operations.

Rooftop solar panels cover about 320,000 square meters and supply part of the facility's electricity, with the rest coming from purchased green power. Biomass-based thermal energy helps meet heating needs.

The environmental targets are supported by closed-loop resource systems. Production waste is sorted for recycling, while wastewater from production and daily operations is treated through biofilm and reverse-osmosis processes before being reused.

The environmental approach extends beyond the shops. Landscaping follows the site's original terrain and uses local plant species, with wetland areas, artificial bird nests, insect 'hotels' and beehives.

Yang said the plant shows how industrial production and ecological protection can coexist, with the manufacturing site supporting biodiversity.

The Changchun facility brings together core elements of Audi's local production system for China-focused PPE models, from platform-based EV manufacturing and digital manufacturing to component matching, vehicle validation, a nearby supplier network and low-carbon operations.

The combination supports premium EV manufacturing for Audi in China while adding advanced electric-vehicle production capacity to Changchun's long-established automotive industry base.