2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron

One factor that will get misplaced in all the present noise concerning the Volkswagen Group’s present troubles is simply how significantly better its electrical automobiles are getting with every subsequent technology. Like, a quantum leap is good. The up-to-date Volkswagen ID.4 is healthier than it has ever been, the newest electrical Porsches are world-class, and, as they did within the fuel automotive period, non-U.S. manufacturers like Skoda and SEAT are making the type of stuff you want you possibly can purchase. (And perhaps it may well quickly be sufficient, in SEAT’s case.)

That brings us to Audi. It is also straightforward to overlook that Audi was a pioneer in this area with the unique Audi E-Tron crossover, which truly hit the highway earlier than even the Tesla Mannequin Y did. It bought a major improvement of its personal final year to go along with a reputation change that matches Audi’s new “odd-numbered automobiles are inside combustion, even-numbered ones are EVs” naming scheme: the Q8 E-Tron and Q8 E-Tron Sportback.

However, the EV world strikes extraordinarily quick. And in contrast to the all-new and barely smaller Q6 E-Tron that rides on a reasonably revolutionary all-electric platform, the Q8 E-Tron nonetheless makes use of one tailored from the fuel automobiles. Furthermore, demand for the SUV has dropped off fairly laborious in the current months, and its run might finish early. So is the Q8 E-Tron, improved as it’s, nonetheless related?

(Full Disclosure: Audi dispatched me a 2024 Q8 E-Tron every week for testing.) 

What Is It?

I first drove this up-to-date technology in its extra-highly effective SQ E-Tron kind final fall, albeit just for a number of hours. I preferred that automotive dealing with prowess specifically, though I was puzzled if dealing with was what EV shoppers had been actually after right here; above all, they appear to need variety, quick charging instances, and respectable costs. Then I bought behind the wheel of the grey Q8 E-Tron you see right here a number of months later.

I’ve to confess I have not considered a lot since then, nor did I discover it to be essentially the most memorable EV round. That is some extent towards it at a time when it seems like solely the strongest will survive the approaching trade transition. However, with the looming debut of the ostensibly extra-essential Q6 E-Tron, I wished to revisit its larger, older brother.

The Q8 E-Tron is available in customary and Sportback varieties, with sooner SQ8 variations of each. This check automotive was the highest status mannequin (not counting the upper launch version) that took the bottom trim’s value from $74,400 to $88,990, together with a number of different choices. All Q8 E-Tron fashions get a 114 kWh battery pack (106 kWh usable) with all-wheel-drive, as much as 285 miles of EPA-estimated vary, and quick charging of as much as 170 kW.

Instantly, we see among the weaknesses of this older EV platform: that it is a reasonably large battery, but definitely not the quickest DC charging round. A Tesla Mannequin Y can do as much as 210 kW DC quick charging. And the brand new Q6 E-Tron Quattro completely smokes each at 270 kW.

You get the concept; these things are shifting quick. The Q6 E-Tron fashions are barely smaller but, additionally, $10,000 cheaper with extra refined tech, so they could simply be ready for an electrical Audi to be on your menu.

What’s Good?

• The Q8 E-Tron, nonetheless, seems to be actually sharp. I am of the opinion that Audi’s design sport as of late is not fairly as hearth because it was within the heyday of the TT and the second-generation A4 and A6. However, it’s good-looking. From the aspect, it offers Bentley Bentayga vibes, and no proprietor can be mad about that.

• Equally, and in typical Audi vogue, the inside offers you what you paid for. It is a glossy, snug, completely trendy area with a great array of bodily controls on the steering wheel, particularly.

• Even in non-SQ8 kind, the dealing with is excellent. Once more, that will not be what issues most with an EV; however, it is a beefy boy at almost 6,000 kilos. It has no proper to nook in addition to it does.
• Audi’s twin charging ports, which might serve AC chargers on the left or the best aspect, stay an incredible concept. (No, you possibly can’t use each directly, nonetheless.) DC quick charging is solely on the left aspect. However, this enables for a ton of flexibility and the flexibility to buy an EV without probably having to rearrange your private home charger, so I am glad it is also sticking around on the Q6 E-Tron.

• Even when the DC quick charging instances aren’t one of the best by trendy requirements, it nonetheless got the job completed. At 42% (which is higher than I usually go for quick charging; however, I had a protracted drive ahead of me and wished to knock it out first), I bought to 85% in half an hour on a 150 kW plug. The best place the Audi might muster was 99 kW; however, it nonetheless handed my “offers you sufficient to get again on the highway after a brief errand” check.

What’s Not So Good?

• As good as that inside is, it does really feel a bit “Model 1.0” in comparison with the upcoming Q6 E-Tron—which, once more, is just not a substitute and even in the identical car class. However, automotive’s shows are larger, the entertainment seems to be extra refined, and the entire bundle seems to be extra from this decade than the final.

• I can also say I used to be impressed with Audi’s voice management programs, which regularly lagged badly or simply did not acknowledge what I wished in any respect. (One request to show to NPR saved sending me to a New York Knicks satellite TV for a PC radio station, which was disappointing, even when issues are perhaps trying up for the Knicks this year.) We’ll see.)

• The underside management display screen options Audi’s MMI Contact Response system, which gives haptic suggestions so it type of clicks like a mouse while you use it. Candidly, I did not discover this function to be helpful, nor did I find the choice to attract out shapes the automotive then interprets to deal with entry and the like. I might be proud of only a sooner, higher voice management system, which appears to be the case on the Q6 E-Tron. Additionally, the Q6 E-Tron will use an Android Automotive OS-based system, and people have actually confirmed it to be first-rate in our testing to date.

What’s the verdict?

There is a motive that you just nonetheless see so many E-Trons and Q8 E-Trons at charging stations throughout America. It executes its mission nicely: transfer the high-tech, luxurious Audi expertise into the electrical period while protecting the all-weather and dealing with qualities that so many patrons love.

However, updates or not, the Q8 E-Tron is beginning to really feel a bit lengthy within the tooth. That is very true while you issue within the almost $90,000 price ticket we see right here. I feel there are about to be higher choices on the market, and Audi’s personal Q6 E-Tron is certainly one of them. At instances, I was puzzled: What is this electrical SUV one of the best at? And I by no means got here up with a really compelling reply to that. Except you are a die-hard fan of the Ingolstadt model, your cash could also be better spent on the BMW iX or a Rivian R1S. (And the Audi has its own beat in the cargo area; however, the Polestar 3 can also be priced at a glance right here.)

Is the Q8 E-Tron’s mission about to be full? That definitely is not as much as I am. However, I’m certain that Audi has extra and higher up its sleeve quickly, and chances are you’ll wish to take into account that earlier than pulling the set off on certainly one of these in 2024.

Contact the writer: patrick.george@insideevs.com