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By Jonathan Crouch

With the Q4 e-tron, Audi gets serious about EVs for the mass market. Jonathan Crouch takes a look at the most recent changes made to the enhanced version of this model.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 75

The Q4 e-tron was the first production Audi built on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform for volume all-electric cars. This lower-mid-sized crossover is pricier of course than other similarly-sized full-battery-powered SUVs from the Wolfsburg conglomerate, but it delivers a much more up-market feel that'll help ease you into your new electrified phase of motoring ownership. Two years into its production life, it was usefully updated to create the car we're going to look at here.

Backgroundword count: 159

With Audi's first three all-electric e-tron full-electric designs, we saw what the brand was capable of with EV technology. These three models though - the e-tron, the e-tron Sportback and the e-tron GT quattro - were merely preludes to the BEV model that really mattered to Ingolstadt, this car, the Q4 e-tron. It was launched back in 2021, then improved in Autumn 2023 in an update coinciding with the movement of part of production to Audi's dedicated EV factory in Brussels (which previously had only made the larger Q8 e-tron). It's tempting to merely dismiss this model as Audi's version of other similarly-sized VW Group crossover EVs like the Volkswagen ID.4, the Skoda Enyaq iV and the CUPRA Born. Certainly, all the engineering bits that matter are common between the four cars, namely the MEB platform and the battery tech. Yet Audi claims to have put its own stamp on the way this car drives and feels. Let's see.

Driving Experienceword count: 438

For both rear-wheel drive and quattro all-wheel drive versions of this updated Q4 e-tron, Audi has installed a permanently excited synchronous machine (PSM) on the rear axle. The update is supposed to release higher efficiency and greater power. And, sure enough, there's 286PS now on tap from the base rear-driven version now badged '45' (as opposed to the 204PS offered by the previous '40' model). Yet the driving range figure has risen over that previous variant, the Q4 e-tron 45 capable of up to 339 miles between charges (it was 316 miles with the previous '40' model). That's with the more aerodynamic Sportback bodyshape, but the standard SUV version isn't far off that. With either variant, rest to 62mph takes 6.7s (it was 8.5s before): and the top speed (as with all Q4 e-trons) is 112mph. The battery is the same as that fitted previously, 77kWh in usable capacity and also used by the top AWD Q4 variant, also now re-badged and now known as the Q4 e-tron 55 quattro. This flagship derivative now puts out 340PS (up from the 299PS figure of the previous e-tron 50 quattro). Which means that the 62mph sprint can be dispatched in just 5.4s (up from 6.2s before). Expect driving range for this quattro model to be just over the 300 mile mark. There are other changes too. Audi says it has re-tuned the chassis across the range for greater driver involvement. As part of this, the steering's now sharper. The engineers have tinkered with the suspension, aiming for greater comfort and stability; as before it's a MacPherson strut front and five-link rear arrangement, with sports suspension available (which lowers ride height by 15mm) and adaptive damping offered further up the range. Audi's also created what it calls a new 'character sound', which is offered as an option and emitted via two exterior speakers at the rear and two interior speakers in the rear doors. This 'soundscape' varies according to load and speed. There's a new camera drive assist feature too, which allows assisted lane changes above 56mph. Otherwise, things are pretty much as before. The Q4's pretty straightforward to get to grips with behind the wheel. You select drive using a slider-type shifter situated on the centre console and once underway, there's the kind of instant throttle response you'd usually get from an EV of this sort. Across the range, there's the same kind of suspension set-up you'd find in other mid-sized Audi SUVs - a MacPherson strut front and five-link rear arrangement, with sports suspension available (which lowers ride height by 15mm) and adaptive damping offered further up the range.

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