The Audi Q4 E-Tron does not produce the glamor or appeal that Four Ring brand loyalists expect. To them or those knowledgeable about electric vehicles, it will appear as a sloppy rework of the Volkswagen ID.4, which costs $10,000 more.
I am one of the Audi fans. My family has owned many vehicles from the automaker’s high-tech era, and we love them. A 2001 Audi A6 used to live in my garage (I used to be cool, it was a V-8 wide-body model).
Spend a week on $64,765 well-equipped 2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron quattro I was shocked by the cheap materials, questionable build quality and casual design. It’s not all bad, but the Genesis GV60 makes a much better impression, and its cousin is ID.4.
Here’s why.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Professional: Effective enough
My dual-engine Q4 E-Tron tester with the quattro badge has an EPA range rating of 236 miles, which is enough though it won’t set records or raise eyebrows in any dramatic way. With 77 kWh usable from the 82 kWh battery pack, that puts the efficiency of the dual Q4 E-Tron engines at over 3 miles per kWh. In a cold Minnesota winter of about 13 degrees, I averaged 2.4 mph during 221 miles of mixed suburban driving. With temperatures of the normal range and performance down by a third, the Q4 E-Tron’s performance is admirable in cold weather.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Pro: Wake up and go to sleep
The Q4 E-Tron operates like an electric car. When I slid into it, the car woke up. When I locked it and walked away, it turned off and went to sleep. No buttons are necessary as in Genesis GV60, KIA EV6or Hyundai ioniq 5. For Tesla owners This may sound ridiculous, but there are many models that still require the driver to run the internal combustion engine rpm.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Con: It creaks and rattles
Our 2001 Audi A6 is built like a tank. It was 18 years old with over 100,000 miles when we sold it, and the thing didn’t make a single squeak, creak or creak. The doors have shims so you can align them to make sure they are straight and 100% true to the body for the life of the vehicle. Wild thing. The Q4 E-Tron tested had less than 3,000 miles on the odometer and had a consistent squeak from the steering column and clatter from the passenger-side rear door area.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Pro: Spacious interior
The Q4 E-Tron, like its ID.4 sibling, has a spacious interior. The front seats are comfortable with plenty of stretch space, and the rear seats aren’t as tall as those found in the Genesis GV60. A 6-foot-tall person can comfortably sit in the front and back at the same time, which is another feat that can’t be ignored about the Genesis.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Cons: Problematic choice of materials and design
ID.4 looks cool and bold, like the future. Genesis GV60 looks attractive. Heck, the EV6 looks sporty and the Ioniq 5 looks like a comeback. The Q4 E-Tron looks nothing like those. Using ID.4’s hard points, the designers gave it a blocky, rough front end and a boring rear end. It is not beautiful; not fun; and it’s not nearly as pretty Q8 E-Tron.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
The dashboard is familiar, but it oddly protrudes beyond the front passenger space and the hard, cheap plastic makes up the Q4 E-Trons center console. And why is the steering wheel round? What’s wrong with the round steering wheel? Somewhere my old A6 is crying and laughing with the interior of this Q4 E-Tron.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Pro: Turn on a dime
With large wheel hubs and wheels pushed into corners, Audi has given the Q4 E-Tron a remarkably narrow turning radius—33 feet in rear-wheel drive. That’s 6 feet less than the GV60 or Tesla Model Y claim.
2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Con: Doesn’t run like an Audi
Karen, my wife, who drives that car every day 2001 A6. “This doesn’t run like an Audi,” says Karen.
She was right, which she was almost always right. I have driven each of my family’s Audis and have driven many of them. The Q4 E-Tron runs as if someone had simply commanded, “Increase ID.4 robustness for Audi” —and left it at that. The strut front suspension and multi-link rear require softer dampers.
The Q4 E-Tron is the mass-appealing entry-level electric car Audi needs, but it’s not the one it deserves. With a base price of $50,995, it’s almost $10,000 more than the near-dollar ID.4. Sadly, this Audi simply isn’t worth more than a Volkswagen. Even with this Audi fan.
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2023 Audi Q4 E-Tron
Cost: $50,995, including destination
Price as test: $64,765
Drive system: Dual 295 hp, single speed transmission, 82 kwh battery pack (total)
EPA Scope: 236 miles
Hits: Narrow turning radius, good interior space, wake up and go to sleep
Misses: Questionable build quality, cheap materials, ugly design, intrusive dashboard, poorly tuned suspension
