Audi E Tron: Comes in 2 body styles

2021 Audi E-tron 50 Quattro Sportback is a bold lassie. You can choose a slightly frumpy SUV-style mum’s wagon, or a svelte, muscular, drop-dead gorgeous “Sportback.” For years I lampooned the awkward hunch back which removed any kind of practical use from an SUV. I’d been assailed with the god awful BMW X4 and X6, and the blancmange that is the Mercedes GLE and GLC. The bloated whales completely missed the point of a high-riding personal sports coupe-style SUV.

Then one night I sat bolt upright in a pool of sweat. “I get it,” I said, wiping the drool from the sides of my mouth.

In Part 1 of our story, we busted those tired old EV myths pertetrated by vested interests and the uninformed. READ ABOUT IT HERE

On a weekend, a family may gather, like jackals at a waterhole. They’ll bundle themselves in and go for their Sunday drive. You’d be lucky to see them go further than the local chippie. However, most cars carry just one person most of the time.

Above: This Week 2021 Audi E-Tron 50 Sportback Video Review

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ABOVE: 2021 Audi E-Tron 50 Sportback Quattro, and Chargefox Ultra Fast Charger

Who will buy the Audi E Tron Sportback?

Well, me for a start.

Audi crafted a bespoke chariot around their electric drivetrain. It is huge, but feels cosy. 21” wheels should make the ride rubbish, but not a bit of it. It is serene.

If metalwork is sexily impressive, the cabin is a shrine to tasteful restraint. Buyers forking over 150 grand will expect the best, and this perfection comes wrapped in leather, and veneers of wood and plastic. The high-tech motor and battery pack is hidden out of sight, with enough room under the bonnet for a large box for cables.

The driver has no less than 4 screens of digital brilliance, each with its own personality.

One screen is a secret known only to the bloke in the big seat. Data is live-streamed onto the windscreen like a fighter jet. Dials have been replaced by an LCD monitor, with two more LCD screens over on the centre stack. Selections require mother’s firm touch, which is rewarded with a comforting “tap” from beneath the glass.

The boring old gear selector has been given a make over. We’ve seen sticks, dials, knobs, and buttons, but this thing needs to be experienced first-hand. You rest your hand on the leather pad and use your thumb and middle finger to choose direction. Your hand falls naturally to the ergonomically shaped aluminium bullet under the pad. What I love about it is that it isn’t immediately recognisable as a gear device. A button at its apex selects park. You can also set it to use park whenever you stop. It is an electric car so let loose your thoughts of normal.

After a short time, familiarity transforms this travelling temple of taste, into a cosy suite on wheels, with a butler to tend to your every need.

What’s Audi E Tron Sportback like to drive?

Audi E Tron Sportback transmutes travel into an ethereal experience.

There is no sound, none, not a jot. Electric door locks allow the passengers to enter the sacred space. A push of the start button awakens the digital mastery cocooned within. Lighting throughout the panels emits a comforting glow, and should you choose, music flows around you like ripples in a lake. There is no AM radio. There is no shock-jocking to ruin your contemplations, just a true sense of a redefined Zen.

Once you’ve caressed the artwork on the centre console, Audi E Tron Sportback awaits your command. If you’ve chosen reverse, sensors and cameras guide you on your way as clearly as if a power-wigged flunky was going before you waving a large flag.

In a thrice, you’re gliding silently through the chaos around you, and still, there is no sound but that which you’ve carefully curated for your journey.

Air suspension can be as hard, or not, as you please. I chose the comfort of a down pillow, but I could easily have selected the torture of a BBQ being wheeled across a cobbled court. Technology brings us much choice, and this choice can be redefined en-route.

Assuming the “down pillow” setting is in effect, acceleration is still brisk. Audi may claim 300km of range, but methinks it was made after a Mittagessen of Brätwurst and Glühwein, heavy on the Glühwein. The best we managed was between 200 and 230km. A heavy hoof reduces the range even further.

The effect of instant torque can’t be understated. In fact, it is intoxicating.

Every movement of your right foot brings forth instant reaction. E Tron has E Quattro. That simply means there is a motor for each pair of wheels. The only thing joining them is a cable.

Does a big heavy car like Audi E Tron handle well?

There is no hiding the SUV-ness of E Tron. Clever suspension can only do so much, but that misses the point of a graceful motoring experience. You change direction without hesitation, and with the batteries down low, there is not as much body roll as you would think.

Steering is effortless, just like everything else about the E Tron.

Our Drive:

I’m fond of bucolic beauty, regardless of weather.

Max, Casper, Ethan and I headed south for a mini Gay-Roadtrip. The rain, driven by gale force wind, lashed the E Tron, and still it was as quiet as a church.

We overnighted at the cottage, and dined at the pub.

While not as capacious as the “estate” in the Hunter, the cottage south of Sydney, affords views over the valleys and the sea beyond. E Tron looked impressive parked beside the century-old building. It was the old with the new, creating an image

A nearby fast charger topped us up, and all was good. Remember, charging at Chargefox is free (for Audi owners) for 6 years.

E Tron was universally adored.

Download Specifications HERE: e-tron_x_e-tron_Sportback_Specification_Guide_MY21_301120

Download our “as tested” card HERE:Audi e-tron 50 quattro Sportback_TestedCard_NBY18N

  • Price: $148,100
  • Battery: 71kw/h
  • Power: 230kx
  • Torque: 540 Nm
  • 0-100kph: 6.8sec

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