Audi Q8 e-tron SUV (2022 - ) Electric review

Be under no illusions – the Q8 e-tron is as expensive as it is big and imposing, so you’ll need deep pockets to get one on your driveway. Which is fine, given Audi is a premium brand and the welcome improvements like more range and sharper looks help it keep pace with similarly pricey rivals. The bigger batteries now fitted to all models mean you’ll go further between charges as well, which is a good thing if you can top up at home each night on off-peak domestic energy rates. But, as we found to our literal cost, if you do get caught short on a longer journey and need to use a public fast charger the bigger battery swallows cash as quickly as it does energy. Top up with enough to get home and then plug in there would be our advice! In terms of other running costs the e-tron’s integration into the rest of the Q8 range will at least make comparisons with the diesel and petrol versions look favourable, especially for company drivers who could save a packet each month in Benefit In Kind tax costs.

Premium brands like Audi rarely show well in reliability surveys because of the cost of repairs and warranty work when it is required. The standard cover on a new Q8 e-tron is three years or 60,000 miles but if you’re running one on a longer finance agreement it might be worth considering paying extra for the extended protection – you have the option here of four years/75,000 miles or five years/90,000 miles if you commit to servicing by the official schedules dictated by Audi. These extended warranties are transferrable to the next owner if you sell before that time, which could help resale value.

A qualified score for the Q8 e-tron for safety, on the basis many of the assistance gizmos you might expect of a premium car like this are tucked away in cost option packages or reserved for the top of the range trim level. Whichever way you do it if you want your Q8 e-tron to have adaptive cruise control and assistance systems to counter swerving, turning across oncoming traffic, or alerts to warn of vehicles crossing your path, you need to pay extra for them. We weren’t fans of the camera-powered ‘virtual’ rear view mirror system, either. It’s standard on Vorsprung trim but money better saved on the other models, on the basis the screens aren’t in your line of sight like a proper mirror and nor can you adjust your field of view by moving your head as you might when parking to avoid scraping your expensive alloys. Technology for technology’s sake, in our book.

While not as soothing as a Volvo interior or as opulent as a Mercedes the Q8 e-tron’s cabin has a very on-brand style, reflecting Audi’s position as a tech-focused brand. So, there are lots of dark surfaces, hard angles and contrasting ambient lighting effects, the latter a distraction when driving at night until you navigate your way through the various menus to find a way to turn them off. It all feels very luxurious, though, and Audi fans will be in their happy place with the commanding road presence and sense of security you get from all that chunky bodywork around you. The spacious rear seats mean the rest of the family get plenty of room as well. The boot is a little shallow but there is at least plenty of additional stash space under the false floor and an additional locker under what would usually be the bonnet big enough to store your charging cables. Weight would usually be considered a negative and you can certainly feel it when you need to slow the Q8 e-tron down but, the rest of the time, it helps tie it to the road and comfort and refinement are all top class thanks to features like acoustic glass and air suspension. Making it a very comfortable place to rack up those extra miles the bigger battery now permits.

The German premium brands are masters at gently steering you up the trim levels to pay extra for the kit you really want, and so it is here. All models get leather, heated front seats, a power tailgate, a reversing camera and fancy LED headlights but this is just the start. You can go all-in and just get the top level Vorsprung, but if you want to pick and choose Audi has made it simpler by bundling the desirable options into relatively straightforward packages. Everything centres around two levels of Audi’s signature Virtual Cockpit, with a digital instrument cluster, central screen angled toward the driver and a multi-function touch-sensitive panel below controlling everything from ventilation to scrawled fingertip inputs for navigation and suchlike. Crisp graphics mean it all looks good, and buzzing ‘haptic’ feedback through the screen when you select something with your finger is cool. But we sometimes needed a couple of goes to get a response. Meanwhile the package of connected services comes with a three-year subscription included, and there’s an app where you can control charging, pre-set the climate control to warm the car before departure and more besides.

The Q8 e-tron is a big unit, and the larger battery packs on all models add more kilos still. We’ll try not to get too bogged down in numbers but the 95kWh battery that was on the fancier models previously is now standard, while the two more powerful versions get a bigger one still. Range still isn’t spectacular but you stand a better chance of going more than 200 miles between charges now, and the recorded efficiency we got suggests whatever tweaks Audi has made to the tech underneath have delivered the much needed improvements over the previous e-tron models. That extra weight takes the edge off the otherwise impressive looking power outputs, but that’s true of all premium electric SUVs of this type and the mid-level e-tron 55 quattro was hardly lacking in acceleration or all-round pace. There’s a significantly more powerful triple-motor SQ8 e-tron with over 500 horsepower if you really feel the need but we’d rather have the extra range of the regular model if it’s all the same.