Audi Q4 e-tron 45 Sportback

This medium sized Audi is the German company’s entry into the electric SUV world, entering a segment where there’s a lot of competitive product. Available in wagon and Sportback form, the latter less wagon like and with more appealing sloped rear styling but you pay several thousand dollars more for the sleeker body.

I tested the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback at $86,500 plus on-road costs – in short, a nice premium offering with a generous amount of room for a small SUV with a very appealing and classy interior. The Q4 e-tron 45 features rear wheel drive, using an 82kWhour battery that powers a single electric motor powertrain producing 21kW of power and 545 Nm of torque and a driving range of 540 km.  Audi suggest with 175kW peak charging ability the Q4 e-tron 45 will charge from 10 to 80 per cent in around 28 minutes.

On my 11kW home charger I found it took around 81/2 hours while at the end of the week’s test my energy consumption rate was 16.3kWhour /100km against Audi’s quoted figure of 16.9kWh/100km.

The Audi Q4 e-tron 45 Sportback which just happens to get under the Federal Governments Luxury Car Tax (LCT) threshold. This is a rather handsome coupe style SUV in the Audi tradition with nice proportions and stance. Audi upgraded this model last year with stronger performance from a larger motor and battery, retuned steering and ride, faster charging an more safety inclusions.

Standard fare includes leather appointed or S-Line cloth seats, LED headlights, a power tailgate, heated front seats and three-zone climate control air. Manual seat adjustment is a disappointment as is the lack of a head-up display, items you would expect to be normal of premium model like this. And frankly, one shouldn’t have to delve into the option list to get items like adaptive cruise control, electric front seats and a 360-degree camera when many models some $20,000 cheaper have such niceties on their standard inclusion list.

European models have long used the option list as a means of bolstering their bottom line however the recent Chinese SUV invasion with a comprehensive list of equipment and inclusions in their base price has put this practice to bed. Perhaps this is the reason why sales on this German model this year have gone backwards by 48 per cent – from 419 sales to the end of May 2025 to 216 to the same time this year.

It’s a shame for the drive experience of the Audi Q4 e-tron 45 is such a selling point – polished, refined and quiet with a cosseted ride but when called upon providing nice performance, a sharp handling balance and with nicely weighted steering – all up, the driving purveying a premium feel to match the sticker price. As the torque figure of 545Nm indicates the torque level more than offsets its hefty weight of 2145kgs and gives the e-tron 45 a feeling of quality.

Also, step inside and the interior, dash and controls are all first class and gives the impression of a premium vehicle. The nature of the soft material and the nicely angled nature of the central touchscreen a high point with easy-to-read graphics in bright sunlight and instrumentation that is first class in the Audi tradition. I owned an Audi 100 sedan in 1985, then the current World Car of the Year, and one of its outstanding features was the readability of its instrumentation.

The Q4 e-tron excels in ergonomics and thankfully it features physical buttons for climate control that are quick to reference while the gear selector is just so easy to use. The 10.25 -inch digital instrument cluster is concise, easy to read for quick reference and is hard to fault. Only disappointment here the lack of a digital radio. There’s wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but surprisingly no connectivity to Audi remote services and connectivity app. Like some other Audi models.

The roomy cabin provides some excellent storage elements particularly around the flyover centre console with storage under plus a number of smaller elements including a wireless phone charging pad. Also included a 12-volt plug, two USB-C power outlets and two cupholders plus the inclusion of a bottle holder in each door. The steering wheel a high point – with flat top and bottom nice to hand but disappointingly lacking heating control.

The surprise is the interior roominess particularly in the rear with good headroom despite the sloped sportsback styling. Rear passengers are well looked after with their own air vents, climate controls, power outlets and cup holders. Boot space is generous with 516 litres with the seats up and a healthy 1460 litres with them folded. As is the norm these days with electric SUV’s there is no spare wheel just a tyre repair kit.

There’s much to like with the Audi Q4 e-tron 45 Sportback, but the Germans have to simply provide more standard specification for the money if they are to compete with the emerging Chinese competition. Hiding it behind an option wall with higher cost is simply a thing of the past. This is a premium electric SUV with fine driving dynamics, comfort and quality but lacking in standard features for the money.

Warranty: Five years/unlimited km.

Battery warranty: eight-years/160,000km.

Service intervals: 24 months or every 30,000km.

Servicing costs: $1900 over six years