Things are moving quickly over at Audi. Its first fully-electric production car, the e-tron, was only shown in camouflage for the first time at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, but sales are now well underway and deliveries should begin this month.
And if you were in any doubt about Audi’s seriousness in adopting electric power, this year’s Geneva concept will become the company’s fifth electric model when it goes on sale by the end of 2020. It’s been a busy year in Ingolstadt.
So, the Q4 e-tron concept then. As you can see above it’s a compact four-door SUV that’ll arrive after the e-tron, e-tron Sportback, Q2L e-tron for China and the e-tron GT coupe have all gone on sale. Audi says it’ll take a position “in the upper third of the compact class”. Riiight.
That plan for 2020 though would suggest that this concept is pretty close to the finished product, and it would certainly seem that way from the details Audi has released so far.
The Q4 concept uses an electric motor for each axle, meaning that a total of 225 kW (or 302bhp in old money) is sent to all four wheels in traditional Quattro style. This will fire what is presumably a rather heavy car from 0-100kph in 6.3 seconds and on to a limited top speed of 179kph.
The top-end restrictor is in place to extend the range of the car, and Audi claims the 82kwh battery in this Q4 will manage 449 kilometres on a single charge.
On the inside it clearly borrows plenty from its larger e-tron brother. The dash and screens might look a little more futuristic but there are traditional wing mirrors rather than cameras and the lightly coloured ‘sustainable’ upholstery gives it a fresh feel. Out with the leather, in with the recycled materials.
The eagle-eyed among you will have noted that this is only a four-seat car right now – there’s no word on whether the production model will feature the five-seat arrangement of its sibling though.
In terms of exterior design there are few surprises given that this is an Audi crossover, although those chunky arches do look fantastic and there is 2019’s obligatory accessory – a full length light-bar across the boot.
So, with the Q4 e-tron Audi hopes that its line-up of electric cars now has something for everyone. Like the look of the future?
