We can tell there's plenty of pent-up demand for the forthcoming Audi E-Tron because the automaker said Wednesday it had "more than" 20,000 reservations for the electric SUV worldwide. Audi opened up E-Tron reservations in September 2018, and the first deliveries to European customers will start in March.

Customer anticipation for the E-Tron appears to have grown steadily, as back in late September 2018 we heard that Audi had 10,000 reservations for the new model. Production of the E-Tron began around that time at Audi's carbon-neutral factory in Brussels.

The 2019 Audi E-Tron will have two electric motors giving a combined output of 402 horsepower and 490 pound-feet of torque. Its lithium-ion battery pack is rated for 95 kilowatt-hours of energy storage, though we still don't have an exact range figure for the new EV. It'll cost $74,800 before options and, interestingly, won't be stocked at US dealers. Instead, prospective buyers will need to special-order the car.

Audi's news comes on the heels of reports that the Mercedes-Benz EQC, a rival all-electric SUV, is already sold out for its first year of production.

The 2019 E-Tron is just the beginning of Audi's electric ambitions. By 2025, the automaker intends to offer 12 all-electric cars. The E-Tron Sportback starts production in Brussels by the end of 2019, and the E-Tron GT will enter production in 2020 at the company's Bollinger Hofe facility in Germany.