AUDI’S DESERT FOX MOTORING
Audi’s first all-electric car, the E-tron suV, arrives in showrooms early in the New Year priced from just under £72,000. And some minor niggles apart, i’m impressed with the performance, comfort and technology of this new German desert fox, which has some serious electric competition in the shape of Tesla’s Model X and Jaguar’s i-Pace.
About four hours of driving round town, on motorways and across stretches of desert in Abu dhabi, where it was launched, i forgot i was driving an electric car. i was simply driving an Audi — and a pretty decent one at that.
At first glance, it looks like a convention- ally suV. But as well as ditching a petrol or diesel engine, it’s swapped conventional door mirrors for a virtual version using cameras and touchscreens.
Boy does it shift — on the road and off. Push down hard, and you can feel the controlled whoosh of acceleration from rest to 62 mph in just 5.7 seconds. Top speed is 124mph. The head-up display helps keep your speed in your eyeline.
But it’s eerily quiet. The power comes from a 408 hp 95kWh 36-cell battery system sitting flat underneath the passenger compartment. it has a claimed range of 248 miles and can achieve 80 per cent of its charge in just 30 minutes using a high-power fast-charging 150kW dC charger — enough to allay most ‘range anxiety’ fears.
The E-tron does not claim to be a fullblooded 4x4. But off-road, it performed better than i expected, tackling sandy tracks and even dunes with aplomb.