Weight of play
Audi called its first EV the e tron because it sounds all futuristic and spacy but then it called all its electric cars e trons and to avoid confusion the e tron has been given a titchy little facelift and been renamed the Q e tron Which wait is already the name of an existing different combustion powered model Oh well Audi says the illogic will come out in the wash
The exterior has been mildly jazzed up with some fancy grille and bumper options the interior mostly looks the same and there’s been some token effort at weight saving An Audi engineer waved a stick of celery in the e tron’s general direction or something
Range increases come courtesy of a combination of ditching the entry battery the
spec car now starts off with kWh for up to miles adding a beefy kWh option the Sportback manages up to miles and having a play with the battery chemistry to get more juice from the same package
The Q e tron is certainly specced like an electric flagship even the base trim is so well equipped you can hardly imagine how Audi might be able to ram more stuff in and up the price spoiler it succeeds You get in wheels adaptive air suspension LED headlights an electric opening boot electrically adjustable front heated seats all the touchscreens you could want and parking sensors
The weird digital door mirrors don’t come as standard until top spec Vorsprung trim they’re an acquired taste like olives or leaving the house in a British winter You might like them but we don’t really
There’s decent room in the back it doesn’t feel like the floor has been compromised by tonnes of batteries being crammed under there Even in the swoopy Sportback version there’s a decent amount of headroom for rear passengers Three adults on the rear bench might be a bit of a chore with the diminished legroom in the middle from the centre console but kids would be fine
Sure the Q e tron is expensive but it hits all the right notes for a large premium SUV and you’ll hardly notice you’re going electric The Tesla Model X is a bit of a gallon hat next to the Q e tron’s German pinstripe suit and the Jaguar I Pace is starting to show its age The Q e tron feels like a normal Audi it doesn’t have to pretend it’s a spaceship to grab your attention As a refined imposing family SUV it makes a solid case for itself over its electric rivals