Audi has given the Q4 e-tron electric SUV a round of minor updates and upgrades, in line with the recently-updated Volkswagen ID.4, which shares its platform, batteries and motors with the Audi.
Battery improvements
The all-electric Q4 has been a success for Audi, with the German car maker claiming that it has seen its sales increase by 51.2 per cent in the first half of this year. To try and keep that kind of performance up, Audi has had a mild tinker with the Q4, starting with the battery.
The 77kWh battery pack now gets faster DC high-speed charging, with up to 175kW charging possible for the four-wheel drive quattro models, while the rear-wheel drive version can cope with 135kW. That's enough, says Audi, to do a 10-80 per cent charge in just 28 minutes, and the battery automatically chops the charge at 80 per cent so as to ensure better longevity for its lithium-ion cells.
The sat-nav system also now automatically helps you get faster charging. Input a destination, and assuming that you'll need a charge en route, the system will route you via the best high-powered charging stations and will also pre-condition the battery as you drive so that everything's as quick and painless as possible. The battery conditioning system now also includes post-charging cooling.
More power, better range
The Q4 is also getting new electric motors, which are more efficient and which have boosted the range on one charge so that the best-performing model - the slightly more aerodynamic Q4 Sportback 45 e-tron - now has a WLTP range of up to 562km.
The new rear-wheel drive model uses the latest permanently excited synchronous machine (PSM) electric motor, developing 286hp (210kW), up from 204hp (150kW) in the outgoing version. The 0-100km/h time falls to 6.7 seconds, which the quattro models trim to 6.6 seconds. The new motor gets a clever oil-based cooling system, which means that, according to Audi, "temperatures in the powertrain hardly rise at all."
The top-spec Q4 55 e-tron quattro now gets 340hp and will hit 100km/h in just 5.4 seconds. All versions have a top speed limited to 180km/h.
Sharper steering and suspension
Audi has also had a go at the suspension with a new steering setup and tweaked dampers, giving the Q4 a potentially sharper driving experience. There's also the option of sports suspension, which sits the Q4 15mm closer to the road.
There are some new tech functions, such as an optional lane-change assistant which can do the steering for you under the right circumstances and a smarter radar-guided cruise control with lane-centring steering and a capacitive steering wheel which can sense when you're holding it without needing to put any little corrections into it to convince the computer that you're still awake.
Heated front seats will now be fitted as standard, and the boot lid on all models is now electrically powered. There will also be a new Edition S line model, only available in black, silver, or white and which will come with 21-inch wheels in a bronze matte 5-W-spoke star design, darkened Matrix LED headlights and darkened LED rear lights, and the Audi rings in a bronze finish.
There's also a new 'character sound' hum that the Q4 emits at low speeds so that pedestrians can hear it coming, which Audi reckons: "deepens the emotional bond between the Audi driver and their vehicle." This new sound is generated at speeds below 25km/h.
The updates also mean a move of factory for the Q4. Previously, it was built in Volkswagen's vast Zwickau factory, alongside the ID.3 and ID.4. Now, the Q4 will shift to Audi's own plant in Brussels, where Audi also builds the electric Q8 e-tron. The move will allow for greater production capacity, and Audi claims that the plant in Brussels is the world's first independently certified carbon-neutral high-volume production facility in the premium segment.