Why we’re running it: To see whether a recent update has kept Audi’s flagship EV at the leading edge
Month 1 - Specs
Life with an Audi SQ8 E-tron: Month 1
Welcoming the SQ8 E-tron to the fleet - 21 February 2024
Audi makes no bones about calling the S08 E-tron its EV flagship, and when you approach it for the first time, everything about its appearance backs that up.
It is big, imposing and very well made, has a magnificent paint job and greets the world with the sort of large and aggressive fizzog (high-tech lights, blacker expanses of grille), that upmarket German cars generally use to advertise their pre-eminence.
Subtle it isn't, which is what 1 remember thinking as I stood and contemplated it as the vehicle for my next few months' motoring. But I had to admit that the raked rear roofline of the Sportback version definitely improves and lightens its lines and reduces its bulk without damaging the rear cabin room.
The accommodation is decent but not outstanding for a 4.9-metre-long, 1.9-metre-wide car. Unlike its younger rivals, the SQ8 E-tron shares its platform with various ICE models, so it has a centre tunnel and provides room for a fuel tank that isn't actually there.
At 2650kg, it's heavy, but that was pretty much inevitable given that it has one of the world's biggest EV batteries (106kWh) strapped to its underside. In that context, a claimed range of 276 miles (which isn't borne out in practice. More on that later) sounds unimpressive.
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