While there’s enough and more acceptance of electric cars in the relatively mass segment, thanks to Tata taking the lead with the Nexon, and MG doing whatever it can with the ZS EV, it’s really the luxury segment that’s seen the electric car game evolve in a very serious and competitive way.
For most of the industry players, it’s the top-down approach when it comes to electric cars and the VW group displays that very well. Porsche leads with its Taycan and Audi with its wide range of electric offerings — which now includes this SUV, the Q8 eTron and its sexier sibling, in the Sportback form — proves the group’s top-down thinking and Skoda as well as Volkswagen will get EVs subsequently.
This review is all about the Q8 etron; which on appeal factor isn’t really in the same spectrum as the Q8 Sportback etron, but it’s a damn better on practicality — if that’s what you’re chasing.
Design
The exterior design is very buttoned up, a typical Audi affair. It’s a very formal-looking SUV and doesn’t have the flair or aggression of its peers Mercedes and BMW. But that’s okay, I guess.
The days of in-your-face design by Audi are long in the past. (Anchor link) Now, the company is doing some fantastic and desirable shapes,
The Etron GT and its RS version, look a far side better than the Porsche Taycan for instance. Its sports cars are still quite smart and some SUVs are reasonably good as well. (B roll of the cars mentioned)
It’s just that in the entire portfolio, this one is a bit muted and conservative. It’s not as evocative or expressive. The Sportback is a lot more stylish than this.
But there are some bits that are cool. The logo is now a flat 2D element encased in glass. Looks great. At the front, there is a light strip that runs underneath the upper lip of the grille area. And just generally, Audi does a pretty fantastic job with its Matrix LED light technology, and it makes some very entertaining dance moves upon startup.
Interior
Inside, what greets you first is the layered design of the dashboard. It’s done pretty well and is drenched in great material quality. Everywhere you touch, it’s nice and soft, and the three-tone treatment just works very well.
The design is such that it gives you a sense that the dashboard is closer to you than in other cars, but that’s intentional — it’s a tapering design and becomes narrower towards the driver’s side. The two screens in the centre are also angled slightly towards the driver.
I’ve had an issue with this two-screen layout in Audis and I’ll maintain my reservation with this car as well. Many manufacturers are increasingly doing away with physical buttons and the features and important controls are all accessed through screens, and that’s just plain silly in my view.
But I’ll still perhaps feel ok if the HVAC controls are on the main screen, a bit high up in the dash so that you can glance at most to adjust the temperature or the fan speeds, but in the Q8 etron the HVAC controls are on the bottom screen, and that’s concerning.
When you drive and feel like adjusting the HVAC, you will have to look down and work it. You have no view of the road even in the peripheral vision and that can be downright dangerous, especially on our roads with uncertainties around everywhere! So that’s maybe something that the designers at Audi might want to relook with their newer cars?
That done with, the MMI is quite good. The touch response is slick and there’s haptic feedback to let you know that you’ve selected something instead of reconfirming every input with a second glance. The readouts in the instrument pod are crisp, and give you all the info; so, it’s all good here.
The Q8 etron gets a 4-zone air conditioning system. That means the driver, the front passenger and the two passengers at the rear can all adjust the temperatures according to their comfort. That’s great.
On features, there’s a lovely Bang & Olufsen sound system with over 700w of output through 16 speakers; there are type c USB ports, Audi’s phone box and there’s Android Auto and Apple CarPlay — and these two things are becoming quite the norm across segments now. There’s also a driver assist function with lane departure warning and cruise control.
Coming to seats. The front ones are rather lovely. Very nice contours and cushioning and they feel good to sit on Plus there’s ample space on offer.
At the back, it’s a bench that splits 60:40 and the cushioning is fine. It’s the space that’s just about average. With the front seat set to my seating position, I get decent knee room, is not immense but it’s respectable. The standard Q8 is a much larger car, so the space in that is more as well.
That the Q8 etron is largely going to be chauffeur-driven, the space at the rear should’ve been slightly better. But otherwise, the seat is fine and the recline angle is good. You also get sun blinds at the rear, which elevates the experience somewhat.
Practicality — fairly decent. There are big door bins all around, both the armrests offer storage and the open space behind the gear shifter is also fairly ok. The boot space is just adequate, and there’s a frunk under the bonnet which stores the charger and the cable, so you don’t have that intruding into the usable luggage area.
Driving
Firstly, the Q8 etron weighs in at a smidgen under 2.6 tonnes unladen and when it is fully loaded up with 4 people and luggage etc., the weight goes up to just a little under 3.2 tonnes! The maximum front axle load is 1535kg and the max rear axle weight is 1730kg. So, 3.2 tonnes gross weight — that’s a heavy load to shift!
But it comes with a 114kWh battery pack with usable battery energy of 106kWh and has a claimed WLTP range of 582km for this, the SUV and 600km for the Sportback. Peak power is 300kW or 408 horsepower. The motor’s peak torque with the gearing factored in is 664Nm.
This is good enough for this bulk and the Q8 etron, while no neck-snapping experience, displays a good and linear build-up of speed.
The steering feels okay; not feel some, but not too synthetic either. You will get a sense of what the steering wants the tyres to do and it gives you good confidence through direct enough response.
Braking performance is adequate. Again, like the progressive feel of acceleration, it sheds speed in a linear manner without any suddenness felt in the cabin.
There are three levels of braking regen in the Q8 etron. Level 1 is very moderate and builds 0.06g which goes up to 0.13g in level 2 and level 3 can measure in at 0.3g with force application on the brake pedal. Can you do single-pedal driving in the Q8 etron, maybe; but it’s not as aggressive on deceleration as some other cars.
The ride quality is the highlight for me. Greatly tuned adaptive air suspension. It really doesn’t get bothered much and lends this SUV good overall dynamic balance.
It is not a driver’s car. It’s not the most entertaining — which it doesn’t even pretend to be. And that’s what makes it endearing in some way. It just goes about doing the job of ferrying a family in comfort and silence in a very straight-faced way.
The Q8 etron can take a feed if up to 170kw and at full fast supply, it’ll fuel up the battery from 10-80% in 31 minutes. If it gets charged through an AC supply of 11kw, it’ll take 8.5 hours, and 4.5 hours on a 22kw AC supply.
Conclusion
The Q8 etron is a fine motorcar. It’s very silent, it’s got fairly decent performance for the type of product it is, it’s refined and adequately comfortable.
Would I have liked a bit more space? Absolutely. More flair in exterior design? Totally, but then for that there’s the sport back version. Its main competition is against the fabulously charming Jaguar iPace. But Jaguar hasn’t broken any sales boundaries with that one.
So really, the Q8 etron is in a space of its own, rivalled by its own sexier sibling. It’s ok as a tool… as a blunt instrument of transportation — because that’s exactly what it is.
It’s a non-emotional car. And you will be pretty non-emotional about it. It’s a car for the daily chores, the bland commutes. For an experience that leans on the tangent of fun, look elsewhere