The Audi e-tron SUV that goes on sale next spring in the
U.S. isn’t just Audi’s first fully electric vehicle. It’s the luxury brand’s
way of showing how an increasingly inevitable part of the future can fit right
in and be a part of four-ring identity.
In our first drive this week, we found the e-tron to be
exactly that—simultaneously flaunting some daring, different engineering
decisions under the surface but looking and feeling, at face value, to be a
familiar, mainstream-luxury Audi.
The e-tron appears, inside and out, as if it were a larger
member of the allroad family, taller than Audi’s sedans but somewhat lower than
its SUVs. It rides on a wheelbase that’s about halfway between the Q5 and Q7,
and while it’s shorter than the Tesla Model X it’s about nine inches longer
than the Jaguar I-Pace.
Inside, the cabin borrows attributes from the brand’s latest
A8 and A6 sedans, as well as the Q7 and Q8 SUVs. The seating position is rather
high, but a beltline of distinctive trim—open-pore ash wood in the vehicle we
spent the most time with—separates the dash and gives the front an airier feel
and better vantage point. Audi’s widescreen virtual cockpit gauge cluster and
the new MMI touch response system, with dual screens and tactile confirmation,
give it the same familiar look and interface that the brand’s other swankier
models have.
As for those different engineering decisions, Audi opted for
two current-excited (wound) motors for the e-tron, for their higher-speed
efficiency and because they’re not dependent on rare-earth materials. It also
completely re-engineered the brake system around a goal of recovering as much
energy as possible.
Go with the boost
With a nudge of the shifter back to "S" mode, from
"D," you can toggle Sport mode and access a Boost mode that pushes
the front motor from its usual 168 horsepower to 181 hp and the rear motor from
188 hp to 221 hp. Boost mode, which lasts eight seconds at a time, increases
overall system specs to 402 hp and 490 lb-ft—a gain of 13 and 18 percent,
respectively. Audi quotes a 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds using Boost mode, and
without it the time is somewhere near seven seconds. The e-tron can tow up to
4,000 pounds (the same as the Q7 2.0T).
The Boost mode time isn’t quite as quick as the Jaguar
I-Pace or Tesla Model X, but about the same as the Q7 with its larger 3.0T
gasoline engine, and significantly quicker than with the 2.0T base engine.
There’s very little motor whine, so the quietness makes the e-tron’s launch
from a standing start feel especially quick.
Audi Drive Select is also nearly identical to gasoline Audi
models, allowing modes that work with the standard air suspension and include
modes ranging from Offroad and Allroad to Dynamic. The ride is on the firm side
but well-damped, and the cabin is tight and supremely hushed, without active
noise cancellation.
Our first drive in the United Arab Emirates around Abu Dhabi
took us up a mountain road to about 5,000 feet elevation and back down; on a
loose trail along dunes at the start of a vast expanse of desert; and on a
series of freeways riddled with speed cameras and what we were told were very
strict speed limits. On one stretch we reached that road’s 99-mph limit but
didn’t see the e-tron’s 124-mph electronically limited top speed.
The e-tron wears the quattro badge. All-wheel drive with an
electric vehicle is faster-responding, Audi reminded us, because it doesn’t
require any clutch engagement to send torque where it’s needed. The electric
motors can react in as little as 30 milliseconds to a change in traction or for
stability needs.
Dynamically, the e-tron feels a lot like a Q7 on the
road—just one that’s many hundreds of pounds heavier. The e-tron's curb weight
is around 5,500 pounds, but the approximately 1,500-pound battery pack is
mounted very low in the vehicle—under the floor, with an upper deck below the
rear seat aimed at fitting in a few more modules. Its steering feels precise
but lacks even a hint of feedback, much like those larger gasoline vehicles,
and when pushed hard into lower-speed switchbacks in Dynamic mode the e-tron
pushed early into understeer even though the rear motor is more powerful, no
matter what we did with our right foot.
It’s likely that Audi will reserve a more rear-wheel-biased
system for the Audi Sport three-motor version of the e-tron that’s due in about
a year.
Brake by wire, on multiple levels
The brakes go about their business in a way that’s different
than most other electric vehicles. Actual regeneration from the motors is used
to brake at 0.3g or less, and an electrohydraulic system kicks in only when
needed to provide braking force from the discs and pads. In all but emergencies
it’s a brake-by-wire system, with a “dummy” piston pushing back to maintain the
right pedal feel.
With a coast mode plus two levels of regenerative braking,
up to just 0.18g, this isn’t a car that aims for one-pedal driving. Instead
it’s a vehicle that Audi has tuned for driving with two pedals, dabbing the
brakes to get the most regeneration.
The e-tron will be the first vehicle in the U.S. capable of
DC fast charging at 150 kw, which can bring it from zero to 80 percent in just
a half-hour, Audi says. Through Amazon Home Services and its network of
electricians, it’s helping make the installation of Level 2 (240-volt) chargers
essentially a one-click process. It also includes 1,000 kwh of public charger
access, via Electrify America's network.
Range remains a sticky point; the e-tron has achieved a
248-mile rating in the optimistic WLTP system used in Europe, expect the U.S.
number to be 10-15 percent less than that—certainly more than 200 miles,
though.
The e-tron, which starts at $75,795, pencils out with one
convenient truth: Once you consider the $7,500 federal tax credit, plus any
other state incentives, it doesn’t add up to much more than equivalent gasoline
models. The catch? For now, and even once they start arriving in the spring,
you’ll have to order one with a $1,000 refundable deposit. Audi is planning to
deliver them on demand, without maintaining the dealer stock that’s otherwise
the norm.
See the 2019
Audi e-tron first drive at Motor Authority's sister site Green
Car Reports for more about the 2019 e-tron. It may not look and feel all
that different than Audis with a tailpipe—which doesn't yet signal any end for
engines and tailpipes in the lineup but may very well be the start of a new
normal.
source: https://www2.motorauthority.com/news/1120361_2019-audi-e-tron-quattro-first-drive-review-a-new-normal-for-electric-luxury
by Bengt Halvorson
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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