Without doubt the e-tron GT is Audi’s most exciting electric car.
The four-door super-saloon is the sister car of Porsche’s Taycan, sharing the same platform, battery and electric motor.
It’s a fantastic looking car. Low, wide and with superb detailing it’s a car that manages to be beautiful to look at without shouting about itself. Park it in a row of cars and it doesn’t leap out at you, yet drive it out of that parking space and heads turn.
Audi does two versions of the e-tron GT. The first, simply called the e-tron GT, is the extremely fast one. Above that sits the preposterously fast version, called the RS e-tron GT. It’s the first electric Audi to wear the hallowed RS badge.
I haven’t driven that model, but I can tell you the ‘entry level’ e-tron GT is more than quick enough. It also requires deep pockets. The most basic e-tron GT costs from £82,000. Go for an RS e-tron GT and you’ll need at least £110,000.
Turn of speed
It’s fast. Very fast. The e-tron GT will sprint from 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds and top out at 152mph. Go for the more powerful RS version and you trim that time to 3.1 seconds, with top speed rising 3mph to 155mph.
Fair enough, some Teslas are slightly faster but that’s splitting hairs. Once you get to this level of speed a few tenths of a second really makes no difference.
All versions come with Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive system. In an electric car this means twin motors, one on the front axle and another on the rear.
Being such a low slung car, the e-tron GT is of course not designed for any kind of off roading. What that four-wheel drive does is put the e-tron GT’s not inconsiderable power directly onto the tarmac no matter the weather.
I drove the e-tron GT in high spec Vorsprung trim. It came with all the extras you could want, including fine Nappa leather seats and a fabulous full length panoramic sunroof, and had a £105,000 price tag.
I took the car for a spin from Edinburgh down towards the borders. On a beautiful stretch of A road the e-tron GT really showed what it can do.
Its turn of speed is incredibly impressive. Overtake a car and you’re past and back in your own lane before you can blink. The acceleration is all you could ever need in a road car and then some.
Ride quality is excellent too, and it’s whisper quiet at 60mph. Electric cars are heavy and, as such, tend not to handle too well. The Audi is an exception in this regard. I wouldn’t want to push it to its limits, but it’s a lot of fun through a series of bends.
Smart on the inside
Inside there’s a 10.1in touchscreen and a 12.3in virtual cockpit display behind the steering wheel. Physical switches are, wisely, used for heating controls, heated seats and various drive modes. That panoramic sunroof is fantastic, stretching all the way across the cabin and giving it a light and spacious feel.
The e-tron GT has four doors and there are proper rear seats in the back. I’m 6’5” and you wouldn’t fit more than a small child behind me when I’m driving. Two average sized adults could sit one behind the other, though, making the car a proper four seater.
At 405 litres the boot is fairly capacious and can easily swallow a couple of sets of golf clubs or a couple’s holiday luggage. Audi loses a mark for an impractical saloon-style boot opening though. There seems no reason not to have made the car a full hatchback. There is another 81 litres in the nose of the car, which is useful for storing charging cables.
Speaking of which, the e-tron GT has an official range of 295 miles. A 100kW charger will boost the car from 10-80% in 40 minutes and the e-tron GT can accept up to 270kW chargers, meaning charge times should drop as infrastructure improves.
It’s very expensive but the Audi e-tron GT really is one of the most impressive and capable electric cars available right now.
Facts
Price: £105,285
0-62mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 151mph
Range: 295 miles
CO2 emissions: 0g/km
