Five Questions About the New Audi Q4 e-tron Answered

Audi brought a near production-ready electric vehicle concept to Geneva Motor Show with plans on bringing the Q4 e-tron to market in 2020.

Not a week goes by where we don’t hear about some new electric vehicle coming to market. In some cases, it’s just fluff, but other models like the Audi Q4 e-tron unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this week have a real chance of making an impact on the market, and even affect change in the auto industry.

To bold of a statement? Think about Audi’s other e-tron SUV model. Only the second luxury electric SUV in its segment, the larger e-tron is contributing to creating a whole new class of vehicle that will eventually include the Mercedes-Benz GLC, the Jaguar I-Pace, and the BMW iNext.

The Audi Q4 e-tron has even less competition, but we will get to that in a second. If Audi manages to bring it to market, they could have the first compact luxury electric SUV on their hands and you know Audi’s main competitors will follow quickly with their own model. All of a sudden, you have a brand-new segment. The EV wars are about to get real.

What’s New About the Audi Q4 e-tron?

For now, it is still a concept, but you can tell it isn’t too far from being ready for production. As mentioned previously, it is smaller than the e-tron we have now, but still packs quite the electric punch.

An 82-kWh battery is lodged between the axles and powers the electric powertrain for up to 280 miles or 450 kilometers which is about 15 percent more range the current e-tron. These numbers are based on the European WLTP standard and should translate into roughly 200 miles or 320 kilometers in North America. It will be a fast sucker too with a claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of 6.3 seconds.

The Q4 e-tron measures 4,59 meters long which is slightly less than an Audi Q5. Like its name implies, the Q4 e-tron fits between the Q3 and Q5 in terms of size and versatility. It is built on Volkswagen’s MEB electric vehicle platform.

When will it arrive on the market?

The Audi Q4 e-tron is just a concept at the moment, but it is headed for production. Launch should happen at the end of 2020 and first models should start arriving in the first six months of 2021. In about two years we will see Audi Q4 e-tron models on the road.

How much will it cost?

It is too early to tell, but given its size and where it stands in the market and its intended segment, we can estimate about $70,000. The current e-tron starts at $90,000 so pricing the Q4 e-tron at about 70k would make sense.

Who are its main competitors?

For now, we haven’t seen anything concrete from Tesla but its upcoming Model Y will likely be a competitor. Porsche announced that its next Macan would be fully electric which would make it a rival to the Audi Q4 e-tron as well given its size. Mercedes-Benz has an EQB model in the works which could also take on the Audi.

Although we don’t know right now who will compete with the latest Audi e-tron model, we can promise you that by the end of this year it will have a handful of adversaries.

What do we think about it?

The folks at Audi have proven that they can walk the walk on electrified vehicles. The Audi e-tron is here and orders are being taken. The Q4 e-tron isn’t a gimmick and it features technology that Audi has and that works in real life. The styling can easily be converted to a production model. In other words, Audi had something solid to present at the Geneva Motor Show.