Audi is opening up the order books on the four-wheel drive version of the electric Q4 e-tron SUV, and the first customer deliveries should take place from the second quarter of next year.
Priced from €69,220
Priced from €69,220 the Q4 e-tron 50 quattro gets an extra electric motor, driving the front wheels, giving it four-wheel drive (natch) and raising the power output to 299hp. If that sounds familiar, it's the same package as used by the Volkswagen ID.4 GTX and the Skoda Enyaq iV 80x.
Performance steps up a gear - the Q4 50 will accelerate to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds - but there's a penalty in range, which drops from more than 500km for the Q4 e-tron 40 to 481km for the 50. It will charge up at speeds of up to 125kW (assuming you can find a fast-enough charging point) so you can top the 77kWh (net) battery back up to 80 per cent charge in as little as 38 minutes.
Battery health
In order to ensure that the battery is kept in peak physical health, the Q4 e-tron 50 quattro gets two cooling circuits. Those try to maintain the battery's internal temperature to around 30 degrees Celsius, ensuring faster charging and longer life.
The Q4 e-tron 50 quattro also gets a heat-pump style heating system for the cabin, which drains the battery rather less when you need to warm things up, and which warms up the interior that much more quickly. It uses eco-friendly CO2 as a refrigerant, which flows through the circuit at high pressure. The heat pump can reduce losses in range caused by usage of the climate control system, especially in winter. Its strengths come to the fore on long drives, says Audi.
Sonos sound system
Inside, you get the biggest infotainment screen, digital instruments, a new 'augmented reality' heads-up display, and an optional high-end Sonos sound system. Other standard equipment will include full body paint finish, S line bumpers, S line badging, 20-inch alloy wheels, Sport suspension and LED interior lights as standard.