New name, new battery

Never change a model name! This is one of the unwritten rules of the automotive world. Toyota, for example, once had to pay in terms of sales when the world’s best-selling Corolla was renamed Auris for two generations in Europe. Lesson learned – today the compact model is again called Corolla. Therefore, it could be a big mistake for Audi’s first electric car, called the E-Tron, to get a new name from February 2023.

But probably not – even the change seems overdue. Because all Stromers in the Audi lineup have had the E-Tron for a long time. It’s time to finally categorize the old electric pioneer in the model rank he has driven so far. As the Q8 E-Tron or the Q8 E-Tron Sportback for the flat roof version, it now stands alongside the SUV flagship Q8. So far it has strayed from the nomenclature, but not from the sales figures: around 3,400 units were sold in Switzerland between January 2019 and October 2022 – more than the two rival Mercedes EQCs (about 1350) and the Jaguar I-Pace (about 1350). 1100) together in the same period. So far, around 150,000 copies have taken to the streets around the world.

30 percent more range

Biggest payload of the previous E-Tron: On a combustion engine platform like its competitor EQC. But when it launched in 2018, things had to be done quickly for a Stromer to also be in the series – and a new tech platform would take a lot of development time. Audi is also recognizing this right now: there will be some more time for the purebred electric architecture PPE to be introduced – the electric A6 will likely be based on that from 2024. “In the new Q8 E-Tron we were able to significantly increase both the battery capacity and the charging capacity,” says Oliver Hoffmann, Audi CTO. There’s also a new front grille with light bar and larger air intakes.

But there’s more going on under the cover. The previously smallest battery with a capacity of 71 kilowatt-hours (kWh) is no longer required and is replaced in the basic version by the previous XL battery with a net capacity of 89 kWh. The top models Q8 55 E-Tron and SQ8 E-Tron have a new battery with a net capacity of 106 kWh. Both energy stores are optimized down to the cell chemistry: Audi uses lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide (NCA) with a lower cobalt content instead of lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and is used only in prismatic cells. can be stacked on the battery pack to save space. It makes about 20 percent more active material in cells with a higher capacity per cell. The standard range of the Q8 E-tron 55 is about 600 kilometers, 30 percent more than its predecessor, as aerodynamics have been slightly improved in both versions. The basic Q8 is about 505 km with the E-Tron 50, while the S version is about 513 km. Performance of all-wheel drive versions is 340 hp (250 kW, Q8 50 E-Tron), 408 hp (300 kW, Q8 55 E-Tron) or 503 hp (370 kW, SQ8 E-Tron).

Now it charges with 22 kilowatts

The charging capacity is also increasing – from 120 kilowatts (kW) for the basic battery to 150 kilowatts (kW) for the top model and 170 kW for the top model. It’s clean, but less than even cars with 800 volt technology. However, in order to quickly fill the electric tank, Audi tries to use the maximum charging power for as long as possible, rather than a short peak. 106 kWh of storage can now be filled from 10 percent to 80 percent in about 31 minutes. More importantly, 22 kW of charging power will also be possible in AC wallboxes in the future if desired – very few electric vehicles have been able to do so until now.

It takes 6.0 seconds, 55 5.6 seconds for the entry-level version to sprint from zero to 100 km/h, and 4.5 seconds for the S variant. Steering should be more direct and handling should be more sporty and agile. The interior now uses more sustainable materials and uses plastic parts made from recycled materials. The Audi Q8 E-Tron starts at the end of February at CHF 84,900. A parking assistant, with which you can maneuver the SUV from the outside into the void via an app, will only arrive within the next year.