Updated looks and tech, a powertrain with mild electric assistance … it’s enough to feed consumer interest in these changing times.

Base price: $106,900

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol inline-four, 183kW/370Nm, 7-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 7.2L/100km, CO2 165g/km.

Vital statistics: 4682mm long, 1893mm wide, 1662mm high, 2819mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 570 litres, 20-inch alloy wheels.

Safety: Five-star ANCAP.

For: Quality product, decent powertrain, good enhancements.

Against: Potentially a product on cusp of change with electric edition in the wind.

REVISIONS that arrive with the mid-life update of Audi’s Q5 are so relatively modest you might be left with impression it was already in such a sweet spot the maker determined the less change, the better.

In the here and now, that might well be true. In reality, it’s also an acknowledgement from this maker that this another product being kept just fresh enough to maintain relevance until the new one comes along and essentially puts the type onto an entirely different path.

Audi’s recent announcement about it having decided to cease development of any future internal combustion engines made a lot of headlines and serves to remind how committed this brand is to the VW Group’s drive toward widespread electrification of its products.

Ingolstadt has been remarkably open about how many e-Tron designated battery-dedicated models it plans to roll out over the next few years. Some of these will be entirely new concepts, but quite a few will be re-interpretations of cars we’re already familiar with. 

There’s evidence to suggest the Q5 will plug into the new electric play.  

Sightings of disguised prototype vehicles have cemented industry observer view that Audi is well-advanced in developing a Q5 e-Tron that could well be into production by 2023, if not with that designation then alternately as a Q6. 

Either way, that’s an interesting timeline. If accurate, it suggests the ‘future’ electric and ‘present’ fossil fuel lines might share showroom time together, given what we have now has put in less than four years’ sale duty and has just undergone the kind of facelift that usually occurs midway through a life cycle.

Which would you have? Designed to slot between the big E-trons we have here in NZ already and the Q4 E-tron that is expected to arrive some time over the next 12 months, the Q5/Q6 E-tron is going to be one of the first cars to sit on a new PPE platform Audi is developing in partnership with sister marque Porsche. That will make it a sister car to the promised next-gen Macan.

So is this the beginning of the end for fossil fuel Q5s? That’s a question no-one is tackling at the moment. As much as it has decided to cease ICE development (and not simply because it has committed to electric, the brand comment about the next-step Euro 7 emissions target being too stifling for engine development is surely also hugely pertinent) that doesn’t mean it has any plan to stop putting fossil-fuelled powertrains in its products for some time yet.

 On the other hand, in promising 20 EV models within five years, it is clearly an enthusiastic pathfinder in VW’s large-scale pivot to electrification and there’s no reason to doubt electric Q5s will be keenly examined. The PPE platform has been designed with a single, rear-mounted motor as standard, but according to Britain’s Autocar magazine it could easily accommodate a hot model that would put some 440kW and 452Nm to both axles, with torque vectoring and rear steering. This, 800 volt functionality and 480km range when driven carefully sounds appetising.

With that in mind, a Q5 as tested here, in its quattro starting point, with a 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder now meted a mild electric assistance, might seem the antithesis of all that is to come. Yet conceivably it might be a model that survives well into the period when the type begins to properly electrify, for two reasons.

For one, it’s conceivably the most efficient current petrol model.  You’re buying into a drivetrain tuning that, while up for sporty play, also puts high value in efficiency.

 For 2021 a new 12-volt mild hybrid system allowing engine-off coasting and engine start-stop at speeds below 22kmh. Plus the four-wheel-drive set-up is also the ‘ultra’ version, which regresses to front-wheel drive mode in everyday situations where all-paw isn’t required. Quattro ‘lite’? Well, yes it kinda is, but that’s how most AWD systems work and, frankly, when driving would you have been any the wiser if I hadn’t said?

How much difference do these ingredients make to the economy? Well, you’d be pushing it to suggest Audi’s gone all Prius. The claimed overall economy of 7.2 litres was not met. Yet the on-test average of 8.5L/100km is one I suspect any owner would be proud of and, assuredly, it seems realistic, given that absolutely no effort was put into driving it piously.

Also, there’s the positioning on the price ladder to consider. At $106,900 in base form, lifting to $117,700 as experienced here (due it having cost-extras of OLED lights, 21-inch alloys and Matrix LEDs with headlight washers) this car is patently not budget. Yet it’s nonetheless still in a price zone that no premium full-electric sports utility has yet managed to drop down into. So long as that status holds, it conceivably still has a relevance.

What also might well keep this version of the Q5 in the limelight even after the more expensive diesel and V6 models feel any electric heat is that, even if the drivetrain doesn’t smack as being wholly leading edge, it now picks up other elements that certainly are.

Most obviously, the infotainment and instrumentation presentations are latest-available types, and so too, of all things, are the tail-lights. OLED lighting technology is something we’ll see a lot more of with full electrics, and though the display functionality on this car might seem a touch gimmicky, it does at least give a neat preview of what the future holds.

Also in that vein, the induction phone charging pad in this model is different to anything else I’ve experienced in that it’s built into a sliding tray between the centre armrest (which also moves) and a general oddments area between the front seats.

What also keeps it in the picture is adoption of latest Audi design elements, which truly further lift a car whose styling has lasted well. Though the distinctly olive (District Green in Audi-speak) hue of the test model wasn’t to my personal taste (nor my wife’s; she suggested I should photograph it at the local military camp), I have to agree that really did accentuate those shapely arches and that sharp crease along the flanks.

The interior also throws down a gauntlet. Though not quite as avant garde as a Mercedes cabin you’ll surely agree that, for material quality and tactility, it’s a very decent offering, beautifully finished and effortlessly operable. The whole ‘German quality’ ethos relates to the materials and design, not the build: That’s achieved in Mexico, but there’s no shame in that. You’d be amazed how many high-end cars are assembled there these days. This one was finished with flawless precision and attention to detail.

The 45 TFSI – yes, another example of Audi’s predilection for baffling combinations of letters and numbers - is only available in S Line trim, so it takes Audi’s virtual cockpit plus, consisting of a high-resolution 12.3-inch digital display in the dashboard with multiple configurable graphic layouts; a showroom selling point in itself. It can be improved with a heads up display. The cabin is spacious front and rear, the back seats offer some adjustability and the boot is decently sized. There’s a decent array of driver aids and connectivity improves. So, all in all, it’s still right at the sharp end.

The driving experience is also solid. True, the level of driver engagement is measured; you’ll more likely to confidently call the Q5 composed and refined rather than designate it an outright enthralling experience.

Importantly for a car that’ll be used primarily as family transport, it delivers a pretty decent ride; something I hadn’t expected given the rim and tyre sizings. Obviously, as is always the case with the Drive Select system, the best comfort comes with, well, the Drive Select system going to Comfort. The Dynamic mode is, of course, somewhat less cushy, but it’s what you want when driving with enthusiasm as, while firming up the feel, it also takes some of the bounce and body roll out of the experience.

And what happens when you push? Well, there’s a point at which you realise why there’s a SQ5 in the family. Even so, this 2.0-litre model isn’t ill-equipped; the engine has decent punch, broad torque and, though it doesn’t have an all-out-sporty vibe, it doesn’t mind being stretched and doesn’t become too noisy when driven that way. While this model doesn’t deliver outright charisma through corners, and could do with a touch more verve and feedback at the steering wheel, there’s lots of grip and excellent traction and it brakes well, too.

All in all, it’s not the version to set the world on fire but nonetheless will trade comfortably through the remainder of its life cycle as a roomy, comfortable and well-equipped five seater that’ll suit. For now. 

It’s pretty obvious that Audi seems intent on progressively giving all its  sports utility vehicles an electric spin, but we’re still in a period of crystal ball gazing. Until we know exactly what will come next, when and for what money, this car as it presents now retains logical appeal.