Audi e-Tron driven
First outing in next year’s electric SUV
WATERIS A precious commodity in this scorching hot basin on the edge of the Kalahari desert in Namibia. Electricity, on the other hand, is no problem. Thanks to a couple of rows of makeshift solar panels, we’re growing our own and harvesting it to use in a pre-production version of the e-Tron, the electric Audi SUV that goes on sale in the UK early next year.
Priced from £70,805, it’s a rival to the Jaguar i-Pace, Tesla Model X and Mercedes EQ C. Like all these manufacturers (except perhaps the Californian one), Audi is on a steep learning curve, and one of the things it’s learning is how its batteries cope with extreme conditions; in this case, extreme heat, with a side order of vent-clogging dust.
With e-Tron production lines already rolling in Belgium, the e-Tron (and the yet-to-be-unveiled e-Tron Sportback) will soon be a familiar sight on every high street: it’s visually close to the Q5 and Q7, but just different enough to stand out. And, of course, it’s near-silent. But today we’re not on any sort of high street. To our left, a herd of impalas fans out into the setting sun. To the right, a solitary springbok stands motionless. In between, sand, salt and stones stretch all the way to the horizon, which is separated from the dark blue sky by a panoramic cloud of dust.
It’s an eerie scene, spectacular yet unreal, as we approach the test area, never changing gear or hitting a redline. When the dust finally settles, you can see that a 1400-metre-long circuit has been marked out with cones. The surface looks like a thin coating of toasted breadcrumbs, but it’s actually as slippery as loose snow on frozen soil.
The e-Tron has two electric motors, producing up to 300kW (402bhp) between them. In normal operation it will give you 265kW (355bhp) of power, 414lb ft of torque and a 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds. In Boost mode, there’s the full 300kW of power, 490lb ft of torque and a 0-62mph time of 5.7sec, but remember that’s only available for a limited time. Either way, it’s a good amount of grunt, and on this surface, even with stability control on, the handling attitude changes with every blip of the throttle.
In the pits there’s a crew closely monitoring every loggable detail of the car’s behaviour, in particular the state of charge. In this heat, and in the hands of drivers keen to push the e-Tron to its limits, you might expect the batteries to fade quickly and offer decreasing returns as your right foot demands everything the electric motors can offer.4
But Markus Siewert, one of the project engineers, tells me they’re delighted with its consistency: ‘We can do repeat action better than anybody else.’ He claims the e-Tron can accelerate from 0-62mph 10 times in quick succession without the time increasing by even a tenth. He also says that on the autobahn – this would be back in Germany, not here in Namibia – you could keep the pedal nailed to the metal for 20 minutes without the top speed dwindling. Beyond that time, the available power is progressively scaled back to prevent overheating.
The driving range of the e-Tron will be 249 miles according to the WLTP standards. Even in winter – which can be at least as challenging to an EV as heat – 200 miles is said to be a realistic point-to-point average.
Powering the two induction motors is a 95kWh high-voltage battery which weighs around 700kg (that’s getting on for 10 times the weight of a full tank of petrol). Where fast charging is available, it could take as little as 30 minutes to get from empty to 80 per cent full. Plug-in charging at home will take eight hours.
Insiders are expecting a performance version of the e-Tron soon – with more to follow, as Audi’s all-electric family blossoms to 12 models by 2025.
Under normal driving conditions, this e-Tron will use mainly the rear motor, good for 140kW (188bhp) and 232lb ft of torque. If the driver requests more grunt, the second motor rated at 168bhp/183lb ft will jump in to drive the front wheels. Fourwheel-drive – for safety as well as performance – and torque vectoring are activated within milliseconds, providing top-notch traction and stability. With ESC switched off, the rear-wheel bias invites you kick the tail out; this proves easy on an African salt lake but the e-Tron may not be quite so frisky on high-grip European blacktop.
Measuring 4901mm in length and sitting on a 2928mm wheelbase, the e-Tron is shorter than the Q8, narrower than the Q5 and lower than the Q7. Its cargo bay holds 660 litres (between Q5 and Q7) while the drag coefficient is a best-in-class 0.27.
Intelligent energy recuperation helps to extend the driving range by up to 30 per cent. There are two different methods working hand in hand: lift-off recuperation and brake recuperation. In both cases, the e-motors act as generators and convert kinetic energy into electrical energy. By pulling on the paddles behind the steering wheel you can increase or decrease regeneration in two steps.
Up to 0.3g, you can either coast or make use of the slow-down effect, which is already strong enough to create that coveted one-pedal feeling. Beyond 0.3g, the hydraulic inner-ventilated 18-inch disc brakes take over.
In the regeneration system’s more gentle setting, the car gradually slows down when you lift off the accelerator, and Audi anticipates that 90 per cent of everyday stopping manoeuvres can be completed without any need to touch the brake pedal. Stage two more or less doubles the regenerative effect. Taking your foot off the gas is good for slowing down, but for precise braking you’ll still need to use the brake pedal, and this demands a determined and heavy right foot. It takes a while to get used to; you can all too easily find yourself charging in to a
THE ENERGY SHIFT ACROSS THE FOUR WHEELS IS SO RAPID THAT THE CAR RESPONDS TO A PUDDLE ALMOST BEFORE IT HITS IT
bend too fast, then panic-braking mid-bend, losing your momentum and coming out too slow.
Get into a rhythm, though, and the e-Tron can be fun to drive. With ESC and all the other aids put into their most playful settings, you can work the car so hard its stateof-charge readout drops to single digits. Doing so impresses an oryx family so much it takes to its heels, watched by a pair of vultures that wheel overhead like stone age slow-motion drones.
There’s a wonderfully direct and intuitive relationship between throttle and steering, but after a day’s driving I’m still learning the idiosyncrasies of the brakes: when to select which recuperation programme, and how best to carry enough momentum from one apex to the next.
Drive Select offers seven different choices from Eco to Dynamic. In addition, you can dial in one of three overriding settings labelled Comfortable, Balanced and Sporty. And the Individual setting allows you to preset stability control from steadfast to leery, dampers from quite firm to quite comfortable, steering effort from featherweight to heavyweight, and drivetrain from attentive to aggressive.
While base models are fitted with low-rolling-resistance 19inch tyres, our test car was fitted with 21-inch energy-saving tyres which destroyed the ride but offered plenty of cornering grip. Like all Audis, this one also protests against a sequence of transverse irritations and just about any other low-speed obstacle. Although the steering is always accurate and predictable, it feels somewhat artificial.
The standard air suspension can be jacked up in two steps by 35mm for on-road use and by 50mm off-road. Above 62mph, it automatically lowers the ride height by 26mm. The electronic e-quattro all-wheel-drive system is significantly faster than its mechanical counterpart. The management of the energy flow across all four wheels is so rapid that the car responds to a puddle almost before it hits it.
The monolithic battery pack made up of 36 modules is mounted between the axles as low as possible to push down the centre of gravity. It also improves the e-Tron’s torsional stiffness by 45 per cent compared to the Q7.
Inside, the e-Tron does not differ dramatically from the current Q8, A8, A7 and A6. The only obvious exceptions are the optional camera-based rear-view devices which are lighter, narrower and more slippery than conventional mirrors. They also take time to get used to, because your eyes must learn to focus on the (non-adjustable) displays in the top forward corner of the door panels. This works okay on the passenger side, but the screen on the driver’s side can be much harder to read. There’s no denying they’re clever, though: at motorway speeds they switch to a smaller image to emphasise the speed difference between fast and slow traffic; the system automatically extends the lateral view as soon as you indicate to turn; and it dials in a bird’s-eye perspective paired to a kerbside zoom when parking.
By tapping into swarm intelligence, the e-Tron can guide its driver to empty parking spaces, receives fog, black ice and accident warnings, and is cautioned should a mobile radar trap pop up.
The first all-electric Audi is an amazingly quiet zero-emission cruiser. Wind noise, road noise and drivetrain noise are so well muffled that you worry about cyclists and pedestrians – or, today, zebras – and welcome the imminent imposition of compulsory external noise. It also comes prepared for Level 3 autonomous driving (where the car can drive itself in certain situations) as soon as it becomes legal.
The e-Tron is not, in this form, the pick of the electric SUVs if performance is your main priority. The acceleration from 60mph upwards is overshadowed by the unreal midrange urge of a Tesla 100D, the fierce low-speed pick-up of the 395bhp Jaguar i-Pace and the awesome thump of the 396bhp Mercedes EQ C.
The e-Tron is a quick car – no doubt about that. But it does not release that torque avalanche with quite the same urge and enthusiasm as its rivals.
The laid-back dynamics are supported by a flat ride, nicely suppressed body movements and enough instant oomph to pull away from trouble. But it’s marred by some characteristics that you’d be surprised and disappointed to find in an internal-combustion Audi: the braking system that too clearly prioritises energy recuperation, pronounced nose-dive under hard deceleration, take-off squat, and steering that’s too light in Comfort mode and too heavy in Dynamic. If Jaguar hadn’t done such an amazing job with its first electric car, you might cut Audi a little more slack. As it is, the e-Tron must face comparison with the current and future electric opposition, and with the conventionally propelled Audi SUVs that will still be available for a few years yet.
The vibration-free motors, the punchy power delivery and the hush-quiet noise level make this a perfectly relaxed and sufficiently brisk grand tourer that’s spacious and stylish. And of course, it’s an Audi SUV, and the world loves Audi SUVs. That this one has electric motors will add to its appeal for some and be almost irrelevant to many others.