First report: With a nip and tuck and a bigger battery, the Audi e-tron – now the Q8 e-tron – is again in our long-term storage.
Electrical automobiles aren’t any strangers to the Autocar India long-term storage, however with the MG Comet, Mercedes-Benz EQB and the Audi Q8 e-tron, we’re sort of electric-heavy proper now. Which meant that regardless of me typically avoiding them, for a number of days final month, I ended up with the keys to the Audi.
The one electrical SUV in its class with an under-floor spare; baggage carrying capability is totally unaffected.
It’s not that I don’t like EVs; the problem is that I keep 35km away from the workplace and my house complicated has no charging facility. Nonetheless, I wasn’t nervous in any respect about having to make use of the Q8 e-tron over a weekend. A few yr and a half in the past, I did use the earlier e-tron and it comfortably managed my weekend working of round 200km with its 95kWh battery pack, utilizing as much as 45 % of the cost. So the up to date e-tron would handle one other weekend stint comfortably with its bigger 114kWh battery pack. And it did; workplace to dwelling and again, plus two days of roaming round Mumbai’s suburbs meant I did 140 kilometres and used up 36 % of the cost, which might equate to a spread of about 390 kilometres. However that’s not the story. What’s, is simply how ‘regular’ it felt.
Inside deal with damaged; must decrease glass and use outdoors deal with to exit.
There have been no questions from the household concerning the vary and the way far we may go. I didn’t have one eye on the battery gauge, and whereas selecting up my mother-in-law from the airport, I didn’t must haul out a spare tyre. You see, each different electrical SUV on this class has the spare tyre plonked proper in the midst of the boot. The Q8 e-tron is the one one with its spare tucked neatly beneath the boot flooring, leaving you with a pleasant, flat and open house for baggage. I need to point out that it’s additionally solely one among two SUVs on this class that additionally has a frunk, and it’s good and enormous, and simply shops the charging cable. So, my mother-in-law’s two cabin luggage posed no challenges to the Audi’s 569-litre boot in anyway.
That is one among simply two eSUVs within the class with entrance storage; useful for storing cables neatly.
Additionally not challenged was the 4-zone local weather management system. December in Mumbai is a comparatively cooler month and the Q8 e-tron’s AC cooled the cabin rapidly and simply. And it was right here that I discovered a relatively useful function. I typically set a temperature cooler than my spouse does, however my toes are likely to really feel chilly. Within the Q8 e-tron, what’s good is you can set a hotter – or cooler, if you happen to like – footwell temperature; that’s a very neat little element to have.
Helpful centre console however uncovered pockets, telephones, cables et al, look untidy.
My daughter favored the automotive too, however she did complain saying it makes her really feel a tiny bit queasy. That’s right down to the air springs, however a shift to the Dynamic setting for the suspension helped to a big extent. Whereas this tightens up physique management, it additionally lowers the trip top and you could keep in mind this when going over our crazy-sized velocity breakers. Most weren’t an issue, however two significantly nasty ones did graze the stomach. And whereas we’re speaking annoyances, the entrance passenger door deal with has stopped working from the within, and the door can solely be opened from the surface, which implies decreasing the window to open the door. We may have this checked out quickly.
Footwell temperature will be adjusted individually; useful to maintain toes heat.
That apart, the Q8 e-tron has been merely very good, doing the whole lot requested of it and, as I discussed earlier, in an easy and regular trend. There’s nothing actually to consciously take into consideration; not the vary for on a regular basis metropolis life, not the baggage house even for an airport run, not even some overtly sophisticated menus and ‘EV’ gimmicks like having to decide on which synthetic sounds you’d like. It’s like a USB drive; a useful plug-and-go machine. Maybe I’ll maintain on to its keys a bit longer.
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