Audi E-tron Sportback long-term test: report 8

The car Audi E-tron Sportback 55 quattro 96kWh S line Run by Steve Huntingford, editor

Why it's here We want to see if Audi's electric coupé SUV feels worthy of its £80k price tag and fits into everyday life

Needs to Deliver a wow factor befitting its price, and not be compromised by its mode of propulsion or sleek looks

Mileage 3600 List price £80,675 Target Price £76,677 Price as tested £84,795 Test range 232 miles Official range 247 miles

27 October 2021 – E-tron vs E-tron

With petrol and diesel cars, the size and configuration of the engine under the bonnet makes a big difference to the vehicle’s character, and is often one of the things that can tempt you to upgrade from something cheaper. However, there’s far less of a difference with electric motors.

Sure, some are more powerful than others, but they all offer near-instant acceleration, because they don’t have to rev up or wait for a lower gear. What’s more, the noise, or absence thereof, is much the same, unless it’s an artificial one.

I used to think that this might be a problem for cars like the E-tron Sportback – at least when Audi and its sister brands started to roll out cheaper electric cars, as they’ve now done with the Audi Q4 e-tron, Skoda Enyaq and Volkswagen ID.4. However, having driven them all, I can safely say that my car does still manage to feel like the more expensive product it is.

There are areas like the quality of the materials and the smoothness of the ride where it definitely has the edge.

However, most significantly of all, while the Q4, Enyaq and ID.4 are all refined by the standard of cars at their price point – electric or otherwise – the E-tron Sportback is one of the quietest cruisers in any class; even a Rolls-Royce sounds raucous by comparison.

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