Barry Hoch, a tall fellow in a button down shirt and a Michigan accent, has been talking for an hour about the 2023 audi q4 e-tron he developed as a senior director of product planning
As we walk around the street near the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., he starts to sound excited.
He eagerly pointed to the ridge that flows around the middle of the SUV's rear quarter panel. Someone is showing off in Germany.
The German version of flexing onTesla is when he flicks the back of his fingers.
It is rare to see such posturing regarding an entry level SUV. Family haulers that are ubiquitous blobs about as exciting as toasts are usually produced by different brands. The newest member of the e-Tron family is a welcome addition to the otherwise mundane segment.
The Q4 model line is an electric vehicle. The Q4 e-Tron has a rear end that is more traditional in shape and the Q4 e-Tron Sportback has a back end that slopes down from the top.
The Q4 e-Tron Sportback is more expensive than the regular version, but I drove it. It had 20-inch wheels and dropped an inch of headroom in the back. They both have 241 miles of driving range and can travel at a top speed of 60 mph. The top speed is 112 mph. I'd pay a small premium to get the Sportback, I like how it looks.
The e-Tron Sportback was unremarkable to drive through the hills in Cornell, Calif. This is positive. It means that the prompt acceleration, responsive braking, and intuitive handling that are found in a conventional SUV can be found in this innovative vehicle. There is no drama here.
I was happy to find that the e-Tron's regenerative braking could be adjusted to allow me to coast like a normal person rather than being slowed to regain energy at the expense of my back and nervous system. One-pedal driving is like trying to make how it feels to drive a golf cart seem novel. The thing is not.
I thought about battery life as I drove 65 miles on a hilly road; I think my range dropped about 50 to 55 miles. Had I needed it, I would have been able to charge my phone for just over seven hours on a level two charge. If you use a DC fast charge, it takes one hour to get a full charge.
The Q4 e-Tron has a driving range that is short of what other cars have. The attention to the interior setup and build quality made it feel like it was better than the other two.
The Q4 e-Tron has a clear glass top that opens and has a sunshade, critical elements the others missed, and a welcome boon for those of us at all concerned about sunstroke, skin. Hoch said that they spent a lot of time trying to convince people that a sunshade is important.
The Q4 e-Tron was futuristic but familiar due to the rounded steering wheel and mix of buttons and knobs. Upcoming software updates include a RWD version in 2023.
It's not as high-end as some of the Mercedes SUVs are, but it's still more luxurious than the Cadillac. The Q4 e-Tron is the first vehicle to offer a sound system from the company. I decided to go through the hills in Topanga Canyon and find the goldilocks of setup.
There were lots of things to consider. Each door has bottle holders on it. The sideview mirrors are moved to allow more visibility around the vehicle. I tried the back of the Sportback and it felt like it was from people I'd known and lived with in real life.
When you want to load the back seat with groceries or children, a sensor on the rear door handles can be used instead of the driver's door. It felt like the mothers and fathers in the world made a list of all the things they wanted in an electric SUV, then made that. You get a lot for your money with the entry level version of a luxury SUV.
I don't understand why more people don't know about electric vehicles after years after the introduction of the first one by AUDI. When I ask my friends which electric vehicle they want, almost none of them are car people, which is a shame. I can only assume that the decade-long head start in creating the EV segment and the cartoonishly outsize life of its founder, Musk, has created such awareness of the brand that other automakers who make superior EV will simply need some time for perception.
Mark Dahnke told me the other day that the Q4 e-Tron is not intended to steal customers from the electric car company. Consumers who already trust AUDI for its well-made, smart, cool looking vehicles are more likely to buy it.
Either is enough to get into the Q4 e-tron. The vehicle speaks for itself when you are in the driver's seat. The Q4 e-Tron is like a sweet exhale, it's the last electric SUV I drove, and I'm tired of those ubiquitousTeslas. I almost embraced it.
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