Audi E-tron review

What’s most likely to tempt you into electric car ownership? Is it a hefty government grant? A 200-mile-plus range? Or perhaps stonking straight-line performance? Or, how about a car that combines all of the above with muscular SUV looks, as the Audi E-tron does?

Not to be confused with the plug-in hybrid ‘e-tron’ versions of Audi’s A3 and Q7, this standalone E-tron model is fully electric. And it’s positioned very much at the luxurious end of the market, so a rival to the Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X.

Beneath the floor is a 95kWh battery pack, which gives the E-tron a range of 248 miles on the official WLTP test cycle. It can be charged from 0-80% in around 8.5 hours from a 11kW home wallbox, with rapid charging at motorway service stations taking about 45 minutes, and the next generation of 150kW chargers due to bring that down to just 30 minutes.

Audi fits air suspension and adaptive dampers as standard in an effort to make the E-tron more comfortable than its rivals. And, in a first for a production car, buyers can improve the aerodynamics by opting to remove the E-tron’s door mirrors and replace them with cameras that feed into small screens inside.

Other features designed to help the E-tron slip through the air as easily as possible include special alloy wheels and a smooth underside that also protects the battery from impacts. Meanwhile, the way you can raise the car by 50mm for extra ground clearance and tow up to 1800kg suggest it’s not just a show pony.

In this review we’ll look at everything from what the E-tron is like to drive and how practical it is, to how much it will cost you to buy and run. Or alternatively, to see how much you can save on a new Audi, click here.