Audi Q4 e-tron | Test Drive

3 September 2022 Redazione News, Tested

Words Marco Mancino / Photos Gian Romero

We awarded it as the best surprise of 2021. Now, after having cooled down our minds, it is time to find out if the Q4 e-tron is truly the exceptional 100% electric SUV we remember. The starting point is the bodywork of a traditional SUV, but also available as a coupe, coming with a raised tail, a few centimeters less in terms of on board space, but an even sportier look (if you have it in mind, it is the one driven by Captain America in a scene from “The Avengers”, ed). The MEB platform grants the possibility of arranging two electric motors, one at the front and one at the rear, and an 82 kWh battery pack. Each engine is connected to its respective axle, confirming how much the Quattro wording symbolizes all-wheel drive, true Audi pride.

100% electric then, let’s start from here. The Q4 does not so much fit between the Q3 and Q5, where it brings with it more length than the first and the same habitability of the second, but rather moves on a parallel level, offering an eco-friendly alternative that is however able to keep space on board and ensure journeys that do not have to cope with the typical range anxiety that often afflicts a car powered by electrons alone. The manufacturer declares 442 km, while at the end of our testing weeks, we found a real mileage of about 400 kilometers, an extremely comforting figure that allows you to drive even on non-urban routes without having to fix the range left with fear. Obviously these are figures that can further increase or decrease, depending on the type of road, traffic and driving style adopted.

Allow me a small leap forward, given that one of the aspects that surprised the most is the drivability of the Q4. If in front of a medium-sized SUV 4.6 meters long, 1.87 wide and weighing 2.2 tons, you could prepare for some compromise dictated by the simplest laws of physics, the Q4 e-tron demonstrates that it’s much more than what in reality could have already be an excellent alternative to competitors in its segment. Once the sportiest driving mode – Dynamic – is set, there is not only a more effective steering and throttle response, but a perfect dialogue with the road below. As usual, since it is an electric unit, power and torque are available immediately: we are talking about 299 horses and 460 Nm of torque. Delivery is prodigious – which is predictable in these cases – and although it tends to limit itself once it reaches 140 kph, the Q4 demonstrates a reactivity and agility that I would not have thought possible, especially when carrying a similar mass. Just think that the first generation Q7 weighed only 85 kg more than this.

It takes 6.2 seconds to shoot from 0 to 100 kph and top speed is limited at 180 per hour, even in such a way as not to drink all the juice within three motorway junctions. The version of our test is the most powerful, the Q4 50 e-tron Quattro, and thanks to the S-Line spec and the special golden sports rims it certainly does not pass unnoticed. It shows its electric nature courtesy of a closed front grille, which gives an even more futuristic look, without however distorting the typical lines of the family feeling of the four rings. The side profile and the tail are sinuous, soft and allow great space on board for five adults and luggage. After all, we are still talking about a car that will not limit its use to urban centers. After the praise for driving dynamics, one of the key points of the Q4 lies precisely in the management of its range, or rather in the way in which, thanks to the recovery under braking and the capacity of the batteries, it is really possible to leave the house without keeping an eye on the remaining kilometers and plan the next refill with complete peace of mind.

In an hour, you can recharge 135 km from a 50 kW DC port, or 49 km from the slower – but more common – 22 kW ones. Doing your math is not a foregone conclusion, at least at the beginning, but having an overall range of almost 400 km available and with an average cycle consumption of about 21.2 kWh per 100 kilometers, brings a very manageable situation. Once on board, you are greeted by a dedicated dashboard, with a four-spoke steering wheel with a squared lower portion as a reminder that nothing has been left to chance. You obviously get customizable virtual cockpit, as well as a large central touch display, with a precise satellite navigator able to program stops for longer journeys. There is no gear lever between the driver and the front passenger, but to select the (single) forward gear there is a small lever, which can also be used to set Brake Mode. Only essential controls are still physical, such as traction control and the button for the different driving modes: Efficiency, Comfort, Auto, Dynamic and Individual.

I keep driving, which I do in any possible scenario: day, evening, night, with sun and rain, city, motorway, mountain, in short, everywhere. The Q4 e-tron remains the wonderful surprise we tasted last year and the fact of being able to test it in the real world and in the most varied commutes shows that it is not only an excellent engineering exercise, but a total package which I believe has all it takes in order to invade the streets of our immediate future. A few lines above we said it is fun to drive and since our magazine mainly deals with sports cars, it is right to say a few words about it. In fact, some might argue that any car weighing over 2 tons cannot be defined fun as petrolheads intend. Wrong. The Q4 e-tron proves to be exciting precisely because the thrust of the electric engines does not limit it as an excellent compact SUV (as in the case of the Q3, Q4 and Q5), but transforms it into an all-rounder with outstanding performance skills. The Quattro concept has always been this after all, aiming at cars with a potential that can really be put on the ground and making them fully exploitable and safe. In the case of the Q4, thanks to its ground clearance, even on dirt roads.

e-tron continues to wave Audi’s electric flag high, not only representing an alternative to the endothermic list, but also making the world of driving pleasure accessible even to those who are aware that the electric future is already here among us. It’s one of those cars that you feel like you’ve been driving for a lifetime, yet it’s all new. You establish a relationship of complicity as you would with a sports car with sexy lines and certainly noisier than the hiss emitted by the pair of electric motors, but for quite other reasons. What remains unchanged – even compared to our preview test – is precisely the amazement of combining the exceptional mechanical level with the entertainment factor where we never expected doing that.

AUDI Q4 50 e-tron Quattro S-Line

Engine electric 2 motors with 82 kWh batteries Power 299 hp Torque 460 Nm

Traction All-Wheel-Drive Transmission Single Ratio Automatic Gearbox Weight 2.210 kg

0-100 kph 6,2 sec Top Speed 180 kph Price from €67.450