Audi halts electric car production due to battery supply issues

It's one of the central players in the premium EV race, but — at least for the moment — Audi has taken its foot off the gas with production of its e-tron electric SUV. 

Production of the four-ringed SUV was reportedly halted last Thursday, with the firm battling reported supply issues. 

According to Bloomberg, the German firm's Brussels factory “battery-supply bottleneck” isn't related to the spate of similar production halt announcements made by the likes of Nissan, following the spread of the coronavirus.

Instead, it appears that the e-tron has been subject to simple Tesla-style production issues. Production is scheduled to resume tomorrow. 

Read more: Inside the lavish Audi e-tron global reveal

Specifics on the origins of the supply issues weren't confirmed, but it's the latest hurdle in a busy and occasionally strained production run for Audi's first mainstream EV. 

It follows a recall on the e-tron last June, prompted by concerns over a "potentially faulty seal" connected to the battery compartment. More recently, Audi have shown a desire to ramp up production with the addition of an e-tron S and e-tron Sportback to the line-up, as well as a new entry-level model for overseas markets.

The benefit of finding issues like this early on in the production process is going to soon be felt by not just Audi, but also parent company Volkswagen AG. Ironing kinks out of EV production is about to become very important for Volkswagen AG's umbrella of brands, as each adds a raft of EVs to its roster. 

The Porsche Taycan, for example, is already out. Audi's version of the slick sedan platform, the e-tron GT, will be out later this year in Europe. And then there's the Volkswagen ID.3 and all the vehicles set to be built on the same compact platform.