Audi, like so much of the car industry, dipped its toe into EV production starting with splashy, aspirational models. The E-Tron SUV and E-Tron GT sport sedan are stunning and powerful, but even the more mainstream of the two starts at $71,000. With sights set on shifting a large portion of its production to EVs, it’s this car, the Q4 E-Tron, that is Audi’s most significant EV yet.
Though the Q4 E-Tron is in no way designed to be a sporty SUV, it’s spry and lively and can hold its own on twisty roads. You feel the weight of the car shift under braking and hard turns, while the traction control regularly intervenes to keep you shiny-side up, particularly when getting into the power exiting a turn.
The interior ergonomics of the Q4 E-Tron are good, but not a great match for a person of my height. At 6’4″ I wouldn’t expect to fit in every midsize SUV comfortably, and this one, to its credit, gets pretty close. The front seat is soft and comfortable, with a bit of extra bolstering in these S-Line seats. But the floor feels abnormally high — presumably due to the battery pack underneath — which brings my legs far too high for my liking.
My test car had the optional heads-up display with “augmented reality” navigation, which was really nice. It provides every bit of information you need, and the AR feature surprised me with its accuracy. It highlights the car in front of you it’s identifying for adaptive cruise control, so you’re never playing a guessing game on your follow distance, and it shows clear and simple arrows for your turns and navigation prompts.