Audi is expanding its collaboration with Arcadia (formerly Arcadia Power), a clean energy platform, to offer customers an industry-first, 10-year subscription to solar power for Audi e-tron SUV drivers at no additional cost.
The offer is available to the first 3,000 eligible customers who take delivery of a new or certified pre-owned 2019 Audi e-tron SUV on or after February 4, 2020, while supplies last.
According to current Audi e-tron SUV owners, environmental responsibility is among their top purchase considerations, among other considerations such as quality, design and driving experience expected from Audi vehicles. Audi’s solar program allows drivers to subscribe to remote solar panels located throughout the U.S. at no additional cost. Savings from this solar power are applied directly to the customer’s home energy bill without having to install any hardware.
Each subscription with Arcadia helps generate enough electricity to offset the approximate cost of up to 2,400 miles of driving per year. Subscriptions to the solar projects also help increase nationwide awareness and demand.
Arcadia’s remote solar projects enable customers living within the service territory of a compatible utility to subscribe to a commercial-scale solar project. With lower anticipated cost and environmental impact than fossil fuel energy, the remote solar project sends electricity directly into a local building’s meter or back into the power grid, and, in turn, Arcadia is able to provide subscribers a prorated share of any savings in the form of a credit on their electric utility bills. Through a web- or app-based Arcadia digital platform, members sign up to auto-pay their standard electric utility bill and receive a monthly statement detailing their savings, environmental impact, energy usage and more. Through the Arcadia mobile app and online dashboard, customers can view the details of their solar projects and electricity bills. Because Arcadia’s software is available in all 50 states, the 10-year Audi solar subscription can transfer with the original, eligible e-tron purchasers even if they move residences.
In total, Audi’s solar collaboration with Arcadia has the potential to support approximately 29,000 MWh of solar electricity generation, offsetting the equivalent of 22,000 tons of carbon dioxide, or 2.3 million gallons of gasoline.
How to participate
Eligible e-tron buyers will receive a welcome email from Audi that includes a link to a personalized enrollment page on Arcadia.com. As part of the enrollment process, customers are asked to link their existing, compatible electrical utility account to Arcadia. This allows customers to pay their electric utility bill through Arcadia and receive potential savings from their remote solar subscription in the form of credits on their monthly bill. Eligible Audi e-tron owners will then start receiving solar savings at no additional cost each month for the next 10 years.
With more than 400,000 members connecting to clean energy from wind and solar farms, saving with lower rates and personalized impact dashboards, Arcadia makes supporting renewable energy accessible to more people. Audi has collaborated with Arcadia since September 2018 to support consumer access to renewable energy.
This program complements AUDI AG’s MISSION:ZERO program, in which the company is aiming to make future production globally carbon-neutral. For example, the Audi e-tron SUV is already produced at a carbon-neutral certified facility in Brussels, Belgium.
The Audi e-tron SUV is the brand’s first fully electric model in the U.S., built for everyday usability and repeatable performance. A true luxury SUV, the Audi e-tron was named as the first fully electric vehicle to earn a 2019 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designation in August 2019. More recently, the e-tron SUV earned Green Car Reports’ “Best Car to Buy 2020” award, and earned a NHTSA five-star safety rating in its New Car Assessment Program.
