Audi development chief boss Ulrich Hackenberg said that Audi’s desire is to beat its German rivals (BMW and Mercedes-Benz) to market with a plug-in hybrid diesel. He has also said that both the Q7 and the A8 will get a plug-in hybrid diesel, but did not indicate which model would be first.
In March 2015, Audi announced that the US and China will be getting a gasoline powered Q7 e-tron, while Europe will get a diesel e-Tron.
North America
Update: According to Audi North America’s boss of product and technology, the Q7 e-Tron will arrive in the 2018 calendar year, or as early as 2017. In a leaked Audi timeline document, the Q7 e-Tron release is scheduled for October 2017.
The Audi Q7 e-Tron is set to arrive in the USA, but no timelines have been given. Audi has said it will arrive “a short time later” after the conventionally powered redesigned 2016 Q7 arrives. According to this leaked Audi document, the gasoline and TDI 2016 Q7 will arrive in January 2016. That puts arrival in North America some time around Spring 2016.
It is safe to expect that Audi will release pricing info and a launch date in the next few months. Expect the price to be less than originally expected since it will be a gasoline engine rather than a diesel.
Europe
According to AutoCar UK, the Audi Q7 e-Tron is scheduled to go on sale in December of 2015!
The Q7 e-Tron diesel plug-in hybrid will also be sold in Europe, and will likely take some sales away from the successful Outlander PHEV and Volvo V60.
Germany
The Audi Q7 e-Tron TDI is scheduled to go on sale in Germany in March of 2016. Pricing starts at €80,500 ($112,339).