Audi e-tron GT
REPORT 6
£79,900 OTR/£107,080 as tested/£1,313pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Is Audi’s Taycan a better all-rounder than Porsche’s?
DRIVER
Ollie Marriage
I THINK I ENJOYED RUNNING THE E-TRON GT MORE THAN THE RS6 I HAD last year. It’s all to do with fitness for purpose. The RS6 did the comfort and space well, but never properly gripped me as a driver’s car. The e-tron GT is pitched differently, but nails the brief. What is that brief? I’m still not sure.
What it doesn’t attempt is any pretence at sportiness. The RS e-tron GT does, and is weaker for it, but this is more laid back, more GT-ish. It embraces what is excellent about electric and makes a virtue of it.
It rides softly and gently, it’s silent and smooth, it wafts and whisks.
As I wrote a couple of months back, I’ve had some issues. The physical ones (rattling door speaker and loose rubber seal) were easily fixed, so too the ones that irked me most – the refusal to run CarPlay reliably and the misfiring app connection. All sorted under warranty. But Audi’s technicians couldn’t replicate the occasional gearbox clonk and scattergun matrix LED behaviour. Neither has caused a problem since, so I assume the reboot worked.
Range and efficiency improved markedly during warmer weather, rising from 2.4mpkWh to 2.9. Treated gently, I got a best of 3.3. I was always confident of a 250-mile range. Two teenagers slotted happily in the back, the load-through was useful for bikes, but the front boot I barely ever used. The cables lived in there. The low ceiling makes the generic cabin slightly oppressive, even with the full glass roof. Handsome from the rear three quarter, but the nose looks like it’s spent too long in a glass of red wine. Overall, the e-tron GT epitomised what an electric car should be. It’s swift if you want it to be (we timed it to 60mph in 3.9secs), but that’s not what it’s about. It’s a long-range cruiser, effortless and sophisticated. And that has been the story of life with the e-tron GT, it’s slotted in brilliantly, performed admirably, it made me feel good and my driveway is a poorer place now it’s gone. I hope Tom Ford enjoys running it as much as I have.