Audi Q4 e-tron (2026 - ) Electric review

As a full EV the Q4 e-tron is cheap to run, provided you have home charging and can do most of your driving without troubling the moreexpensive public network. For the updated ca, Audi has improved the peak charging speed on the range-topping quattro dual-motor variant to 185kW, the reality being most models (depending on the charger) can top-up from 10-80 per cent in a little less than half an hour. It’s also very efficient in real-world practice, to the point we saw an easy 4.1 miles/kWh from the base-spec Q4 e-tron on our test drive.

Although Audi is a prestige brand and EVs are typically reliable things, not everything has been sweetness and light with the VW-derived foundations on which the Q4 e-tron is built, especially with regard to electrics and infotainment. Typically, these sorts of things tend to get sorted out by a manufacturer as a model moves on through its lifespan, so there’s a solid chance the updated and facelifted Q4 e-tron will be more dependable in this regard – hopefully so, as it has a fancy new infotainment system as part of Audi’s revisions.

Independent safety testing body Euro NCAP has awarded the Audi Q4 e-tron the full five-star rating following a 2025 assessment, with impressive sub-discipline scores as part of the test. Standard safety gear across the range includes adaptive cruise, lane departure warning, a reversing camera with front and rear parking sensors, and swerve, turn and side assist with exit warning, among more. There are also three full ISOFIX positions in the car, two in the back and one in the front, giving peace-of-mind and easy child-seat installation options for parents.

Arguably the Audi Q4 e-tron’s strongest suit, this. We tried a basic Sportback with 20-inch wheels and it rode quite superbly, while the minimisation of tyre and wind noise is to be commended at all road speeds. The Q4 always feels stable and planted, which gives the driver a reassuring and, ultimately, relaxing feeling when at the wheel. But it isn’t just those up front who enjoy the comfort levels in the Audi, rear passenger space also plenty generous thanks to decent legroom and more than adequate headroom too. You obviously get more of the latter in the SUV than you do in the Sportback but, weirdly, it’s the latter which has the marginally larger boot (by the numbers) when all the seats are in use.

There’s a good level of specification on every Audi Q4 e-tron sold here, with even the single-motor, small-battery entry-level version coming with 19-inch wheels, heated front sport seats, three-zone climate control and the new infotainment centrepiece. Called the Digital Stage, it’s a vast, dash-spanning construct that has at least two screens in it – a 12.8-inch MMI infotainment centre display and the 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster – but which can house up to four big digital panels if specified correctly. While this is all very eye-catching and bound to delight the technophiles fans of user-friendly ergonomics might lament the fact the Audi’s once-physical climate control buttons have now become graphics on the central touch-screen. On top of all that, no matter how generous the Q4 e-tron’s equipment list, you get pretty much all the same stuff and gear on any of the VW, Skoda or Cupra alternatives, only for a good chunk less cash than this.

Again, the power levels for the Audi Q4 e-tron range are decent, but they’re very, very familiar from other EVs in the VW group. The rear-wheel drive Q4 e-tron has a single motor and a smaller battery, is good for up to 269 miles of range and will go zero to 62mph in a little over eight seconds. Which is plenty. From there, the other two models have a bigger battery and even the choice of quattro all-wheel drive in the top model. Changes to battery management and motor efficiency mean these two Q4s go anything between 330 and 352 miles to a charge. They’re also quite a bit quicker, too, due to increased motor outputs. But no Q4 e-tron, either SUV or Sportback, AWD or RWD, small battery or big, is particularly memorable to drive. So, you kind of question what you’re paying the premium for, beyond the implied prestige of the badge and brand.