Here it is, the Audi electric going for mass appeal.

“WE are still discussing the car but our desire is to take it as it will become a volume seller here.

“I have seen the vehicle as a concept and I know it will work and become a mainline seller here.”

So, there you have it. The viewpoint from Audi NZ boss Dean Sheed, in respect to the latest electric from Ingolstadt unveiled to the world today, could surely not be plainer.

 As soon as the Q4 e-tron hits the production line – at the moment, that’s timed for late this year, pesky Covid-19 allowing - he’ll be booking it a ticket to our market and making arrangement for it to achieve permanent residency, with intent to have it fully settled in by early 2022.

And why not? The car’s credentials are really quite impressive, and not just because of the cited potential range of 500km.

In addition to being Audi’s seventh EV it is also the first on the MEB platform, the structure upon which all key VW Group electric vehicles already signed off for NZ introduction are based. VW’s impending ID family, starting with the ID3 hatch and a close-following ID4 crossover, the SEAT El-Born and Skoda Enyaq are all close cousins.

When you think Q4, it’s times two. A more orthodox hatch – subject of a preview last year - and now the car revealed today, a rakish, coupe-style Sportback offshoot, which is the one that especially has Sheed’s attention.

He suggests the cars each “sit nicely between the Q3 and Q5 exterior dimensions (German logic) and the Sportback denotes the coupe style to the body – think the latest Q3 SUV to the Q3 Sportback.”

By the time Q4 arrives, Audi will have already enlarged its electric family beyond the e-tron SUV that has been on sale for almost a year, and a Sportback coming on sale in late September, to include S versions of those cars – coming in the third quarter of next year - plus the e-tron GT. 

The last is basically a sister ship to the Porsche Taycan and potentially the most exclusive Audi EV here until 2025, when the so-called A9, a new flagship model being developed by an in-house working group called Artemis, arrives.

The S variants of e-tron have just been unveiled in Europe and will certainly add fizz to the category. As the first production electric cars to feature three electric motors they pump out around 372kW, which translates to a 0-100kmh time of 4.5 seconds and top speed of 210kmh. It’s the second fastest S model Audi makes, beaten only by the petrol-gulping S8 sedan.

Anyway, Audi’s incoming EV imprint is something of a mass attack, and even though it’s not one specifically aimed at the mass market – that’s a turf VW, Skoda and SEAT will be focussing on – it will be expected to be Ingolstadt’s highest volume EV for the foreseeable future. 

Rivals will be other plush electric SUVs such as the Tesla Model Y and Volvo XC40 Recharge. Undoubtedly the BMW i4 will also be considered a foil.

So, anyway, with the timelines all sorted, potential Kiwi customers have a good year to consider which version they might prefer – one with, as Audi AG puts it, “the versatility and robustness” of the classic SUV or the dynamic elegance of the Coupe variant. 

Either way, the dimensions are almost identical. With an exterior length of 4.6 metres and a height of 1.6m, the Sportback is 1cm longer and flatter than the hatch. They’re identical for width (1.9m) and wheelbase (2.77m).

They also have the same drive technology, comprising two electric motors mobilising 225kW of system output, transferring via quattro all-wheel drive (which, in EV terms, means each wheel set having an electric motor to drive it) or, optionally, via the rear wheels alone, in which case there’s just a single electric motor.

The all-paw edition is designated the performance format, but that’s not going to make it a threat to any of Audi’s petrol-dedicated RS cars. 

Perhaps the inevitable S variants will zap things up all the more, but at present with Q4 e-tron quattro zero to 100kmh occurs in 6.3 seconds and, as on the other MEB cars, top speed is restricted to 180kmh. 

The electric motors are fed by an 82 kiloWatt hour battery that takes up almost the entire space in the underbody area between the axles. A range of “over 450 kilometres” assessed under the worldwide harmonised light vehicle (WLTP) process is claimed for the quattro and just over 500km for the rear-drive. Audi sees this as setting a benchmark in its class.

Even though it’s dual motor, in most cases, the quattro mainly uses its rear electric motor, a permanently excited synchronous motor, in order to achieve the highest efficiency. For reasons of efficiency, the drive torque is generally distributed with a rear-axle bias. 

Audi says if the driver demands more power than the rear electric motor can supply, the electric all-wheel drive uses the front asynchronous motor to redistribute the torque as required to the front axle. “This also happens predictively even before slip occurs in icy conditions or when cornering fast, or if the car understeers or oversteers.”

The electric motor in the rear end has an output of 150 kW and torque of 310Nm. The front motor supplies the front wheels with up to 75kW and 150Nm. The system output is 225kW. The battery is charged with a maximum of 125 kilowatts so therefore takes little more than 30 minutes to reach 80 percent of the total capacity, assuming with direct charge replenishment.

The compact electric product line also features a sophisticated recuperation strategy, “leaving out no possibility for optimising its range” according to the factory bumpf. “The complex thermal management of the drive and battery, which involves a CO2 heat pump, also contributes to this.”

It says a key factor for the car’s sporty character and outstanding transverse dynamics is the low and central position at which the drive components are installed, not least that 510kg battery. 

“The high-voltage battery system is optimally matched to the dimensions of the Audi Q4 Sportback and is located between the axles in the form of a flat, broad block beneath the passenger compartment. The centre of gravity … is therefore at a similar level to that of a sedan with a conventional drive system. 

“Axle load distribution is perfectly balanced at almost 50:50. The front wheels of the Q4 Sportback e-tron concept are guided on a MacPherson axle with adaptive dampers. In the rear, there is a multi-link axle with separate springs and adaptive dampers.” 

Ingolstadt is really chirpy about the Sportback styling, particularly in respect to how the silhouette slopes downward to the back in a subtle and dynamic curve, part of the effort to achieve an impressive aero of just 0.26 Cd. 

“The roof line transitions into the significantly inclined D-pillars and ends in a horizontal spoiler at the level of the lower window edge. As a result, the future Audi Q4 Sportback appears much longer than its sister model, the Q4 e-tron concept.” It’s impossible for Audi not to mention any new design without claiming reference to the legendary original quattro of 1980. With the Q4 e-tron the lineage expresses in those prominently modelled wheel arches.

As much as the Sportback is being pushed as the prettier thing, it is hardly calling the more orthodox alternate a mutt. “The widened features of the Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback are designed to be highly organic and flowing, and they add a characteristic touch to the side view.”

 It is confident no-one will be troubled understanding how these two models belong to the same e-tron family. Likewise, neither will there be any misunderstanding to them being battery-fed, claiming “it will take no more than two glances to see that this is an electric Audi.” Oh yes, and you’re correct in assuming these cars run on 22 inch hoops. 

Of course, so slinky is all well and good, but what of interior space? Well, that the cars present in four-seater format suggests compromise has been unavoidable. Yet Audi also proposes that the 2.77m wheelbase and the lack of a transmission tunnel deliver enough pluses for it to offer “unsuspected spaciousness and comfort, especially in terms of legroom at the front and even more in the rear.” They’ve also meted it an interior colour scheme to accentuate impression of it being less than of a cocoon; so, dark hues are restricted to the carpets and upper section is lighter hues, with the headlining, window pillars and the upper section of the door rail and dash panel fitted with white and beige microfiber textiles.

The latter also reflects a sustainability priority: The floor covering is made of recycled materials and, instead of chrome-plated metal decor frames, the surfaces are covered with a high-quality multi-layer paint finish. Seats are upholstered in Alcantara material rather than leather here.

As expected, the Q4 follows in the e-tron SUV’s tyre tracks in making full use of Audi’s virtual cockpit tech; core display elements for speed, charge level, and navigation are located behind the steering wheel but there’s also the new feature of a large-format head-up display with an augmented reality function. It can display important graphical information, such as directional arrows for turning, directly on the course of the road.

Control panels designed as touch elements on the steering wheel spokes can be used to select frequently used functions. In the middle above the centre console, there is a 12.3-inch touchscreen via which the infotainment and vehicle functions are displayed and operated, with ventilation controls below.

As the centre console does not need to account for a gear lever or hand brake, it becomes a stowage compartment that includes a cell phone charging cradle. A horizontal area into which the selector button for the transmission mode is integrated also serves as a cover for the front section of the console.