Assault & battery for the senses

AUDI’S ELECTRIC E-TRON OUTSHINES ITS PORSCHE RIVAL

Though I’ve never owned an Audi, the first Quattro, and the A2 city car of the early noughties, are among my all-time favourites.

To that list we can add the new Audi e-tron GT which uses the same Volkswagen Group J1 platform as the Porsche Taycan with which it shares a lot of hardware too.

The Taycan looks so cool but to my eyes the e-tron GT looks even better. There’s more detail around the front end and the lines are sharper.

Audi gives you a choice of two models – the e-tron GT quattro that we’re testing, and the RS e-tron GT. Both use the same 93.4kwh battery as the Taycan but, unlike the Porsche, Audi doesn’t offer a smaller battery.

Just as Porsche has starting producing variants of the Taycan, such as a rear-wheel-drive model and a sports estate, Audi will no doubt serve up different e-tron versions as time goes on.

The e-tron quattro and the RS both have a 235bhp electric motor driving the front wheels, while motor outputs at the rear are 429bhp and 449bhp respectively. That translates, via various computer trickery, to a total power output for the quattro of 469bhp, and 590bhp for the RS.

Inside, you’re met by a very Audi-like interior which means acres of high-quality materials, a logical layout and a feeling of specialness that matches the outside of the car.

And great news – there are plenty of buttons to enable you to operate the car’s primary functions without having to go into the infotainment system.

Audi’s old rotary controller would have been even more welcome but on the whole the systems are easy to use and allow you to keep your eyes on the road – essential in a car this fast.

You can clearly tell when you drive the e-tron that Audi has gone to some lengths to make this car feel different to the Taycan. It feels just as rapid, which isn’t surprising when it shares a powertrain and weighs about the same, but the way that it drives is noticeably more Audi-like. The steering is not quite as quick or heavy and the ride on the standard steel springs (air suspension is fitted on the RS), although quite stiff, is not as controlled as the Porsche’s.

The e-tron is still highly capable and easy to drive quickly, if only it wasn’t so wide and took up so much road space. And as we said, the e-tron GT is extremely quick with this

‘entry level’ model having a top speed restricted to 152mph and 0-62mph taking 4.1sec. That’s in boost mode when the electric motors develop 530bhp for a maximum of 2.5sec.

Range is 295 miles in the quattro and 280 miles in the RS.

Charging, which is equally important, can take as little as 23 minutes from 0-80% if you manage to find a charger that can supply 270kw.

And as my experience in the Porsche Taycan has proved, it will achieve that, too.

Roughly speaking the e-tron GT quattro is the equivalent of the Taycan 4S and the RS e-tron is the Taycan Turbo.

Our test car, with no options ticked, costs £79,900 and the RS is £110,950. There are Vorsprung editions of each coming in at £106,000 and £133,340 respectively, and a Carbon Black version of the RS at £124,540.

Our test car undercuts the equivalent Taycan by £4,000 but that’s not why I’d buy the Audi over the Porsche. It’s simply that I prefer the looks of the e-tron GT and its more relaxed drive.

Spacious in the front and back, this Audi is simply stunning.

‘‘ The e-tron looks even better with more detail around the front end