Speaking at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, Audi of America’s president, Scott Keogh, said the A3 Sportback and Q7 e-tron were the start of a move towards large-scale plug-in sales in the world’s biggest-volume market for the technology.

A production version of the fully electric e-tron quattro SUV concept, likely to be named Q6, will go on sale in 2018, offering a Tesla-rivalling 300 miles to a charge. By then, Audi hopes to have a network of 150kW fast chargers (three times the speed of most rapid charging points) in place across the United States, offering an 80% charge in around half an hour.

“With the cars on this stage – the Audi A3 e-tron hybrid plug-in and the Audi e-tron quattro electric SUV – we are, in full force, joining the electric revolution. Now is the time to make electric driving more available to the mainstream,” said Keogh.