Skip advert
Advertisement

Audi Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback – UK pricing announced

The Q4 e-tron is Audi’s adaption of the Group’s MEB platform, and it starts from £40,750

The next addition to Audi’s EV strategy arrived in April, in the form of the Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback – a pair of compact electric SUVs based on the same Volkswagen-designed MEB platform as the ID range. The Q4 e-tron will join the e-tron GT (on the J1 platform) and other upcoming models on a third EV architecture called PPE, creating a three-pronged approach to its EV strategy, eventually cycling out the original e-tron SUV. Prices start from £40,750, rising to £66,750 for the dual-motor Vorsprung Sportback.

Advertisement - Article continues below

As its name suggests, the Q4 e-tron is sized somewhere between Audi’s Q3 and Q5 SUVs, but features an interior bigger than both due to a comparatively long wheelbase and packaging advantages inherent in the MEB’s skateboard chassis layout. It will launch with a collection of three different motor and battery combinations, the highest specification of which is, for the moment, unique to the Q4 e-tron.

> 2021 BMW iX UK pricing announced from £69,905 – all-electric SUV ready for production

There are two battery sizes available – 52kWh and 77kWh – the former only available with a single rear-mounted motor producing a rather pedestrian 168bhp and 229lb ft of torque. This entry-level ‘35’ model takes 9sec to reach 62mph, and has a range rated at 212 miles on the WTLP cycle. 

Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

The larger battery pack is available with two motor options – the first another single motor variant with a touch more grunt at 210bhp and the same 229lb ft of torque. This ‘40’ model will do the 62mph sprint in 8.5sec, but the more relevant figure is range, which is rated at a much stronger 323 miles.  

The top-level Q4 e-tron 50 quattro picks up a second motor on the front axle, making an equivalent of 295bhp, with a peak 339lb ft of torque. This more powerful variant will bring the acceleration to 62mph down to 6.2sec. Sportback models all have the same acceleration figures, but thanks to a marginally more slippery silhouette have an improved range by a few miles here and there. 

Both versions fitted with the 77kWh battery are able to charge at up to 125kW, which Audi estimates will be able to add around 80 miles of charge in 10 minutes. 

Advertisement - Article continues below

Given the Q4’s MEB foundation, the proportions are somewhat familiar to VW’s ID.4. The long wheelbase, cab-forward silhouette, large wheels and very short overhangs are all typical of the platform, and despite references to Audi’s quattro heritage through accentuated lines around the wheels still looks defined more by group politics than design inspiration. To combat this, Audi’s covered the exterior in layers of ornamentation, using contrasting materials, ornate lighting and even a circa 1990’s flow-through rear screen on the Sportback to distract you from it’s humdrum proportions.  

The interior design goes down a similar aesthetic route to the A3 hatchback, but with the extra height in the body includes more lateral layering of materials, touchpoints and surfaces. Like the exterior, the interior is far more complex than its VW cousins, addressing one of our main criticisms of the ID.3 and ID.4.

Both body styles, and all three variants are due to reach the UK this summer, with pricing starting at £40,750 for the entry-level 35 Sport, £44,990 for the 40 and £51,370 for the dual-motor 50. High spec Edition 1 and Vorsprung trim levels are available on all versions, with the range topping out at £66,750 for the dual-motor Vorsprung Sportback.

To apply the same Volkswagen Group structure in the A3 being Audi’s version of a Golf, this is indeed Audi’s version of an ID.4, rather than an ultimate expression of Audi’s EV development. Targeting different audiences with the same hardware is something the Group has mastered since it first introduced mass platform sharing, and it’s set to continue with the Q4 e-tron.

Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

Hyundai Ioniq 6 N teased – wider, winged EV saloon will be N division’s M3
Hyundai Ioniq 6 N teased
Spy shots

Hyundai Ioniq 6 N teased – wider, winged EV saloon will be N division’s M3

The hot Ioniq 6 N saloon will soon join the excellent Ioniq 5 N in Hyundai’s all-electric performance car rebirth, setting a target for the forthcomin…
3 Apr 2025
Skoda’s fastest accelerating car ever is here: the 335 bhp Elroq vRS
Skoda Elroq vR front
News

Skoda’s fastest accelerating car ever is here: the 335 bhp Elroq vRS

The Elroq is the first in its category to get a performance version – there's no Ford Explorer ST or Kia EV3 GT for it to face down
3 Apr 2025
Diced-up Lotus Emeya and Eletre EV ranges start £5760 cheaper
Lotus Emeya and Eletre
News

Diced-up Lotus Emeya and Eletre EV ranges start £5760 cheaper

Lotus has introduced a new range of trim levels and a new naming convention to more clearly define what buyers are getting for their money
2 Apr 2025
New Hyundai Insteroid – could this be the new-age i20 N EV?
Hyundai Insteroid – front
News

New Hyundai Insteroid – could this be the new-age i20 N EV?

Hyundai has served up another wild hot hatch concept, this time taking the Inster supermini as a base. Could an electric successor to the i20 N be on …
1 Apr 2025
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Volkswagen Passat 2025 review – a breath of fresh air next to leaden EVs
Volkswagen Passat front
Reviews

Volkswagen Passat 2025 review – a breath of fresh air next to leaden EVs

Being ‘only’ 1500kg has its advantages. The latest Passat in petrol-only form reminds us ‘normal’ cars can and should be above average
16 Apr 2025
Why the Vauxhall Astra should have been given a different name
Vauxhall Astra GSE
Opinion

Why the Vauxhall Astra should have been given a different name

It’s time to reassess a perennially underrated hatchback, says Porter
17 Apr 2025
Morgan Supersport 2025 review – Malvern's alternative to a Porsche Cayman GTS
Morgan Supersport front
Reviews

Morgan Supersport 2025 review – Malvern's alternative to a Porsche Cayman GTS

Morgan’s new flagship is its most versatile car yet. Does modernising mean losing the magic?
14 Apr 2025