Audi e-tron GT review: fun-to-drive electric car with movie star looks

The all-electric Audi e-tron GT four-door coupe/saloon is similar to the Porsche Taycan in more than concept, because the pair share a floorpan and 40 per cent of their components. However, Audi’s take on a four-door high-performance EV is a little less hard-core than Porsche’s, trading the latter’s firm suspension and meaty steering for a softer ride and less demanding character. In other words, it rides and drives just as fans of expensive Audis have come to expect.

With a roomy five-seat cabin stacked with the latest technology, and has charging speeds that make long distances a breeze, it would be churlish to suggest the e-tron GT is not worth the money. Thanks to spectacular acceleration, impressive ride and handling, easy-driving manners, and a beautifully appointed cabin, the e-tron GT is a thoroughly desirable high-performance saloon.

About the Audi e-tron GT

If you wanted an all-electric luxury saloon a couple of years ago, the Tesla Model S was the only game in town. It took a few years for the auto industry ‘establishment’ to catch up with Elon Musk’s disruptor company, but products like the Audi e-tron GT and its VW Group stablemate, the Porsche Taycan, reveal a depth of sophistication that some would argue only a dyed-in-the-wool auto-maker can muster.

It’s also interesting to note the speed of the VW Group’s response to the new EV world order that Tesla has helped to usher in. The e-Tron GT was the first Audi to be put into production without the use of any physical prototypes, and the first cars left the factory just two years after the concept was revealed in 2018 in Los Angeles. In-between times, the car also appeared in the 2019 Marvel movie Avengers: Endgame, with Tony Stark (Iron Man) at the wheel.

In terms of the finished result, this stunning Audi EV gives away little to its closest relative, the Taycan, in terms of style, performance, luxury, or, indeed, price. The brand is so confident in the e-tron GT that its price starts above the base Taycan – although you do get a larger 93kWh battery pack (versus the 79kWh pack of the Porsche) thrown in. There’s also a performance version called the RS e-tron GT, which is only a few grand short of the price of the hottest Taycan Turbo S. 

While the Model S has fallen out of contention given that it is no longer available in anything less than exceptionally fast Plaid trim and is left-hand drive only in the UK, the Audi e-tron GT does have other competition in the form of the luxurious BMW i5 and long-range Mercedes EQE, while the Genesis Electrified G80 would be a cheaper left-field choice. All are big luxurious five-seat saloon cars, and have versions with phenomenal performance and impressive range derived from a large capacity battery pack.

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The Audi is built on the J1 platform developed jointly by Audi and Porsche, and although it’s not the firm’s first EV, it’s the first to be built in Germany. Audi’s R8 factory in Neckarsulm was given the honour of producing the e-tron GT, and unusually, these two entirely different models are built on the same production line. 

The e-tron GT features a motor on both front and rear axles, giving every version four-wheel drive, and helping to deliver up to 523bhp (more on that later) in ‘basic’ e-tron GT quattro spec, and 590bhp in the go-even-faster RS e-tron model – or 637bhp for a few seconds when you activate boost mode. 

Acceleration off the line is eye-wateringly quick, with a 0-62mph sprint of just 3.3 seconds claimed for the RS model. The maximum quoted range is 298 miles on a full charge, and while that’s beaten by the i5 M60 and the hottest AMG 54 EQE, the Audi’s rapid charging capacity means you can theoretically put a 60-mile top-up into the 93kWh (83.7kWh useable) battery in just five minutes. That’s assuming you have access to 270kW charging, of course.

There are just two trim levels in the standard e-tron line-up: the regular e-tron GT and the more luxuriously appointed Vorsprung trim. The latter includes such luxuries as 18-way adjustable massaging seats, Matrix LED laser headlamps, a head-up display and semi-autonomous tech, as well as adaptive air suspension and four-wheel steering. The RS e-tron GT comes in standard, Carbon Black, or Carbon Vorsprung trims. Air suspension is standard across the RS line-up.