Audi Q4 e-tron review

Audi has never quite been able to decide whether it’s supposed to build racy cars or smooth and refined ones. It usually manages the balance quite well, and electric powertrains offer the ideal opportunity to blend those traits, thanks to the instant slug of torque that e-motors offer.

So the Q4 e-tron offers a smooth ride – it’s well damped, but can get occasionally fussy as you drive over small ridges and other bumps, delivering a short sharp shock into the cabin. But it can hustle too – 0-62mph takes 5.4s in the quattro and 8.1s in the entry version, staying flat and clinging grimly on thanks to the low down weight of the battery.

Country way or the motorway?

The Q4 e-tron is not a classic driver’s car – certainly more at home cruising than attacking B-roads – but the steering is firmly weighted and accurate, lightening up the further up the drive select modes you get towards Comfort.

How quiet is it?

The cabin is hushed on the move (even the wipers are silent when it rains) and outside noise has been impressively muted. The problem with that level of noise reduction is that it shines a spotlight on squeaks and grunts from the rest of the car over bumps or round corners, but this Audi is properly screwed together. It’s silent enough to be awkward, so remember your conversational cue cards.

Tell me about the regen braking.

One of the Q4 e-tron's most useful features, that. While there is an auto mode that relies on sensors and navigation data, we preferred to use the flappy paddles behind the steering wheel to manually switch between the car's three levels of regen. It quickly becomes second nature, flicking left and right to vary the car’s rate of regeneration when you come off the, er, gas. And adds a level of involvement that is otherwise missing.

What about range/efficiency?

We’ve made a point of leaving this until the end – simply because range is becoming far less the talking point it once was. As a reminder, the base model gets a 63kWh battery for a 274-mile WLTP range, then there’s a bigger 82kWh version offering 360 miles of range, or there’s an all-wheel drive version which gets an extra motor but sees range fall to 337 miles. 

We’ve tested the middle option, and achieved 3.8 mi/kWh over a mixed city/motorway route in warmish conditions (i.e. we weren't shy with the accelerator pedal or aircon), equivalent to around 300 miles of e-range. It'll be less in winter, but that's not half bad. You can pretend all you like you’ll make it further than that before your bladder gives up.

And what about charging speeds?

The 63kWh model only accepts up to 160kW, while the bigger battery manages 165kW in RWD or 185kW for the AWD. Honestly, we’re not sure you’ll really notice – it's roughly a 10 to 80 per cent charge in around half an hour whatever the spec.