If Q4 e-tron sounds familiar that’s because Audi previewed it first as a more practical, five-door SUV based on the group’s latest MEB battery-car architecture at the Geneva show last year. What you see here is that car’s sexed-up twin. Both Q4 e-trons go on sale next year as junior counterparts to the £71,500 e-tron with which Audi kickstarted its electric car revolution two years ago. The most recent addition to that range is the Audi e-tron S.
Living up to its name, the new Sportback is all about sporty styling, particularly at the back. The dramatically sloping roofline is radical for Audi, even if the wheel arch blisters are very on-brand. Overall the car has a very organic look with its deeply sculpted sides and hi-tech treatment of the single-frame grille, air inlets and rear diffuser.
That sloping roofline may reduce rear headroom over its Q4 e-tron sibling but in other ways the Sportback should be just as accommodating. The MEB underpinnings, as well as the driver-orientated cabin design, are the same on both cars, for what Audi says is front and rear legroom from the class above. The spacious cabin is thanks to a notably long 2.77m wheelbase. Overall dimensions put the Sportback in the same size class as the current Audi Q5, while a length of 4.6m makes it a full 300mm (1 foot) shorter than the e-tron currently on sale.