Audi has announced it plans to sell 800,000 fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids in 2025.

By then, the car manufacturer says it will have introduced at least 20 electrified models and ploughed around €40 billion (£35bn) into strategic areas such as e-mobility, autonomous driving and digitisation.

To free up the funds necessary for this electric push, the company says it will cease production of a number of existing cars, including the two-door versions of its ‘A1’ and ‘A3’ models.

It also plans to release the production version of the Audi e-tron prototype, followed by two variants in 2019 and 2020 – it claims it will be the first premium car to be produced at high-volume in a carbon-neutral way.

The car’s lithium-ion battery will work with rapid chargers and is expected to provide a range of more than 400 kilometres.

Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, said: “Our goal is to revolutionise mobility. Also in electric mobility, we want to become the number one among the premium manufacturers – with full suitability for everyday use, no compromises, top quality and driving pleasure for the customer.”