Ingolstadt enters volume-selling family EV market with an unconventional crossover
The Audi Q4 E-tron has been with us since 2021, which might not seem that long ago. Since then, though, we’ve watched as the cars we all know and love, and the companies behind them, switch from reciprocating pistons to electric motors. The Q4 E-tron itself has also left its mark on the brand’s sales figures, outselling every other Audi SUV in 2023. That means there are more rivals to choose from than ever, and Audi has needed to keep its electric crossover up to date. As a result, Audi has handed the Q4 E-tron a substantial midlife refresh, which subtly restyles the model, adds new motors and implements a significant technology upgrade. This update, while useful in keeping the Q4 E-tron in line with a host of newly arrived rivals, also represents the way Audi is currently operating and is reminiscent of how it went about business in the late 1970s and 1980s, when boss Ferdinand Piëch encouraged his engineers to strive for perfection. The Q4 E-tron launched as Ingolstadt’s third all-electric model following the larger Audi E-tron SUV of 2018 and the E-tron GT four-door sports car that was introduced in the UK in 2021. The firm, whose association with front-wheel drive extends back to the 1930s and which famously branched out to develop quattro four-wheel drive in the 1980s, has only ever made rear-driven derivatives of the R8 supercar before.Its refusal to follow the classic mechanical type of its luxury-level rivals with its regular passenger cars has, at times over the decades, bordered on pig-headedness. Now, with so much that’s new and unfamiliar about its first affordable EV, perhaps Audi is hoping that we won’t notice as one of the technical principals that it has always clung to falls by the wayside – or perhaps that we won’t care.This is, after all, Ingolstadt’s new electric era. The firm will launch its last combustion-engined car within four years, and by 2032 will have built its very last. From here on out, we should expect most of its model introductions to be EVs – and this week’s road test subject provides our first taste of what they might be like.The Audi Q4 line-up at a glanceUnlike Audi’s petrol and diesel models, the Q4 E-tron’s range is relatively simple, with just three powertrain options. Using the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform means that, uncharacteristically for Audis, all cars are essentially rear-wheel drive.The big news for 2024 is that all versions now have a more efficient motor (as found in the new Volkswagen ID 7) on the rear axle. That means more power. The range opens with the 45, which features 281bhp (up from 201bhp) and an 82kWh battery (with a 77kWh usable capacity) and 402lb ft. It hits 0-62mph in 6.7sec. You can select this powertrain with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system. Next is the 55, which adds quattro all-wheel drive as standard, upping proceedings to 335bhp (up from 295bhp). Here, torque is split to 98lb ft at the front axle, and 402lb ft at the rear.The new motor and battery combinations also mean improved range, with the entry-level car (which will go the farthest) up from 316 to 330 miles. That puts it right in the ballpark of the Kia EV6 RWD (328 miles) and Tesla Model Y Long Range (331).Audi previously offered the 35, which was sold with a smaller 52kWh battery, but this version is no longer on sale from new.VERSIONPOWERQ4 E-tron 45281bhpQ4 E-tron 45 Quattro281bhpQ4 E-tron 55335bhpQ4 E-tron 55 Quattro335bhp
