Audi e-tron Sportback 55 quattro India

 The e-tron, Audi's first electric vehicle, is a five-seat SUV. Unlike some other radical-looking EVs, this one is designed to look ordinary, and it has the room and utility you'd expect from a large luxury SUV. It's available in two versions: the e-tron 50 (313hp, 540Nm) and the e-tron 50 (408hp, 664Nm), with the latter gaining more standard features. 

 

 Both cars have two motors and AWD, however the 50 has a 71kWh battery with a range of 379 kilometres, while the 55 has a 95kWh battery with a range of 484 kilometres. Both cars come standard with 11kW AC fast charging (with a 22kW option) and can be charged at DC fast chargers up to 150kW.

 Audi's word for a 'four-door coupe,' whether in sedan or SUV form, is a sportback. It translates to a roof line that tapers smoothly all the way to the vehicle's rear end, resulting in a significantly more eye-catching shape. It's not just about looks: the roof has been lowered by 13mm, resulting in a slipperier 0.25cd drag coefficient compared to the 0.27cd of the standard e-tron.

 

Instead of slamming down hard like a Q8, the roof slopes down gently and meets the edge of the tailgate with a suggestion of an integrated spoiler, obviating the necessity for one at the roof level. Despite the lack of a rear wiper, the back window is curved and heavily sloped, and water didn't collect there even once during our rainy test days. On this trimmed-down rear end, the now-signature LED taillamps connected by a light bar stand out even more, and the Sportback design fits well with the e-size tron's and proportions.

The 95kWh battery has a WLTP-rated range of up to 484 kilometres, which in our conditions should translate to roughly 350 kilometres in real-world use. It can be charged at up to 11kW with an AC charger (or 22kW with a 22kW option) and up to 150kW with a DC charger. We observed that charging from 10-100 percent took roughly 8 hours at 11kW using the AC wall box charger that came with the car.

The two-stage regeneration system controlled by the steering paddle is a great trick to play with because, in addition to recouping maximum energy, it can also slow the car to a near-stop without you touching the brakes. We just wish there was more real-time data available for the driver, such as the e-battery tron's level, rate of discharge, significant power consumption variables, and so on. This is critical information in an electric vehicle, especially for new owners who are concerned about range anxiety, and what is available on the instrument cluster and touchscreen is far too minimal and rudimentary.

Audi's e-quattro AWD technology uses twin motors, one on each axle, to produce 408hp and 664Nm, which are torque-vectored and sent to the road almost instantly. When you press down on the accelerator in Dynamic mode, the car accelerates quickly, with a nice, artificially increased electric hum in the interior, and though we didn't get a chance to test it, Audi claims it's just as speedy as its more traditional sister. We tested that version's performance, and it went from zero to one hundred kilometres per hour in 5.58 seconds.

Ride quality is superb thanks to the standard air suspension, and the 20-inch wheels feature a large 50-section profile that keeps sharp bumps at bay. Although the air springs allow you to raise the car so that the underfloor battery pack doesn't scrape against tall speed breakers, we never found the need to do so because the usual ride height is sufficient.

Sportback rounds out the lineup with a little extra style for individuals who want to make a statement at the expense of functionality. The best thing is that it's only Rs 2 lakh more expensive than the ordinary 55 quattro at Rs 1.18 crore (ex-showroom, India), making it almost exclusively an aesthetic rather than a financial option.