Goodwood Test: 2021 Audi e-tron 55 Review

e-tron (lowercase e, because Audi) is everything electric with four rings attached to the front. But, like with many legacy automotive companies, there was a period of time where Audi knew it wanted, or even needed, to make an electric car, but was only really starting with a one-off. And thus, e-tron became also a specific car. A middle-of-the range size SUV with a middle-of-the road name. But one that helped to launch Audi into the world of electric cars. e-tron will, in the end, become just a spec, hanging off the legacy names like A6, or more modern ones like Q4, to differentiate EV Audis from their ICE counterparts, but the e-tron is where it all started.

It looks, like an Audi SUV. There are few signs that its slightly different; the big hexagonal grille is blanked off and the wingmirrors don’t have to be there (you can spec the e-tron with drag-reducing cameras), but mostly Audi has been conservative with the e-tron. There is a swoopy, coupe-lined sportback, but this is the standard flat-hatch.

That said it isn’t an unpleasant view, it feels less bulbous and wobbly to look at than Mercedes’ EQC, and certainly not as obviously in-your-face as BMW’s upcoming iX, but you can’t help but feel the man in the street is not looking at that slab back with lightbar across and noticing a strong difference to the rest of the range. Maybe that is the e-tron’s strength, it looks like a car people would think to buy, rather than something wantonly different.

This is the e-tron 55, which in Audi’s baffling numbering system means it has 408PS (300kW) from a 95kWh battery, capable of a range of around 252 miles should conditions be right. Torque is an impressive 561Nm (414lb ft) with a boost up to 664Nm at times, which is good for 62mph in 5.7 seconds if you absolutely floor it, and a top speed of 124mph.

That means it isn’t challenging the likes of Jaguar’s I-Pace or the Tesla Model X in a race, but when you are propelling around 2.5 tonnes of car it feels rapid, especially with instant torque on offer. When you get to a corner though, that mass does make itself known. The e-tron is around 350kg more than an I-Pace, itself no midget, and you can tell. Although the big Audi is much more controlled than Mercedes’ EQC there is still an awful lot of roll, to the point where you can at times feel it rolling the edge of the tyre over the rim a little.

That said, it manages to gather itself together incredibly well, the suspension handles the roll without collapsing into a heap (something the EQC can be accused of) and pulls you back into line reasonably quickly. Just don’t expect to be chucking this big SUV around for fun.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad car to drive – there are plenty of places to find enjoyment. Take the regen, which is less vicious than many, but still pretty intuitive to use, allowing you to pretty naturally lift and coast before driving. The intelligent drive is also impressive, reading the road ahead to bring the car to a halt with regen if it detects a junction or roundabout ahead. It means you can lift off before a set of lights and let the car gradually ramp up the regen until it has you at a stop just as you need to. Impressive.

On a cruise the e-tron is quiet (as you would expect from an EV), and its acoustic glass is excellent for removing excess wind noise and tyre roar. The ride is comfortable in pretty much all settings and a few hours down the motorway will pass with little stress.

The interior of the e-tron, similar in design to many of its Audi stablemates now, is excellent in many ways, but has the odd weird idea. Take the odd open sides to the centre console, which feel like they were a ‘design’ thought that no one in final sign-off noticed were actually a pretty poor idea. There’s also the positioning of the screens for the camera mirrors – not featured on our test car – which sit just inside where a mirror would be; on the face of it a good idea, but in reality necessitate a weird head movement to check what’s behind.

However, the execution of most of it is top notch. Just like the RS6 we drove recently the double-screen infotainment system is one of the best integrations of touchscreens around, the haptic feedback coupled with the need for a more forceful press helps to prevent accidental clicks, and provides a more physical feel to the system. We’d still prefer buttons, and it’s interesting to see them return to the e-tron GT, but for this kind of system, Audi’s is the king.

The other feature we love is the steering wheel, a conventional round unit with no unnecessarily sporting flat bottom, but with nicely designed hexagonal innards. It just looks cool.

As standard the car comes with LED headlights, 20-inch alloys, Audi’s MMI Navigation plus, DAB radio, Bluetooth and wireless mobile charging. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also included and Audi’s systems will plot routes based on charging points, like most modern EVs. Our car, in S-Line trim, added larger wheels, styling additions, adaptive air suspension, a faux diffuser, privacy glass and  illuminated door sills for a base price of £70,845.

The infotainment screens are 10.1 and 8.6 inches respectively as well as the standard VAG all-digital dash, which is almost endlessly configurable and has now been around for so long that it’s totally lacking in annoying bugs. That said, with only a few extras the e-tron manages to punch beyond £80,000 even with the government grant, so you would expect the systems to be excellent when you’re paying luxury car prices.

The e-tron isn’t the newest EV around, and the EV market is one that moves faster than any other in the automotive industry, so the Audi, even at only a few years old, already feels like it’s been with us forever. But, it is still better put together and designed than many of its competitors and as it was developed on a proper EV platform it doesn’t suffer in the way that Mercedes’ EQC does when it attempts to be a car. The range is reasonable, if nothing special, and it carries itself very well for 2.5 tonnes of metal.

Interior space is excellent and a genuinely pleasant place to spend time, and the semi-autonomous driving features have been fine tuned to throw up few of the oft-produced unexpected surprises. If you’re looking for a family SUV and feel your budget can stretch to a luxury SUV, there’s very little to sway you away from the e-tron, except perhaps whatever comes next.