Power without control is about as useful as smooth sandpaper, you’d be sliding around and achieving nothing. For the Audi e-tron GT it’s the polar opposite and it grips the tarmac like 50-grit sandpaper and it’s nothing I have ever driven, apart from the even more insane Audi RS e-tron GT.
In my eyes the Audi e-tron GT is absolutely stunning and by far the best-looking electric vehicle available in Australia especially in this Mythos black metallic paint. For added eye candy my e-tron GT was fitted with the optional 20” alloy wheels in 5-spoke aerodynamic ($7,500) and the optional Carbon and black exterior styling package ($17,500). This includes front side air intakes, inlays in door trim strips and rear diffuser insert in carbon, a Carbon roof (removes fixed glass roof), Carbon exterior mirror caps, and the Audi rings front/rear and model badges in black. But there was one design fault on the e-tron GT and that was small stones can become lodged in the vent behind the front wheels.
The e-tron GT and the RS e-tron GT are produced at the Böllinger Höfe plant in Neckarsulm, Germany and the batteries for the e-tron are manufactured at the Audi’s own battery manufacturing facilities in Brussels to ISO 14001 Environmental Standards.
Mission:Zero at the Neckarsulm site is on the road to be carbon-neutral factory and since 2020, the entire Neckarsulm site has used green power exclusively. By 2025, Audi will transform Neckarsulm to a completely net carbon-neutral site. The production of the e-tron GT quattro at Böllinger Höfe is already net carbon-neutral today and even delivery of the Audi e-tron GT quattro to customers in Europe and the USA is net carbon-neutral.
Audi have undertaken a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of the Global Warming Potential of the e-tron GT taking into account the manufacture of the components (from the raw material to the finished component) and production of the vehicle model, use of a vehicle model based on a predefined driving profile (WLTP) with a mileage of 200,000 km including upstream processes from the fuel or energy supply, and recycling at the end of the product life. With an EU electricity mix for the usage phase of the e-tron GT the LCA works out to be 39 t CO2-eq and green electricity for the use phase reduces this to 22.4 t CO2-eq.
The 93 kWh Lithium-ion battery powers the electric motors on front and rear axles producing 350kW (390kW in boost mode) and 630Nm of torque (640Nm in boost mode). The claimed energy consumption is 19.2 kWh/100km and for my week of cold weather I used 35.8kWh/100km giving me a potential range of 260kms. The quattro (all-wheel drive) driveline delivers crazy grip levels and is paired with an automatic 2-speed transmission. Amazingly this 2,350kg GT can accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 4.1 seconds!
The drive modes available include Efficient, Comfort, Dynamic, and Individual and I spent my week in Comfort mode with the occasional flick to Dynamic mode. Under the Individual mode you can adjust the Drive System, and Suspension to your personal preference. I found the ride was very comfortable and I liked that the e-tron GT is a quiet EV with no enhanced sound.
To ensure that you can enjoy the extreme capability of your e-tron, it comes with a complimentary 6-year Chargefox subscription which provides Audi e-tron customers with 6 years of free, unlimited charging at all Chargefox ultra rapid charging stations and at participating Chargefox managed fast charging stations.
Audi e-tron owners in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, ACT and South Australia can now benefit from an exclusive offer from Australia’s largest energy retailer, Origin. As an e-tron owner, you can benefit from 12 months of 100% GreenPower combined with the Origin EV energy plan. Meaning you can power your vehicle, as well as your entire house, at no cost for 5 hours between 10am-3pm (AEST), and enjoy off-peak EV charging between the hours of 1am-6am. Furthermore, owners can also receive a discounted price on a Smart EV Charger installation at your home that can be set up to automate the charging of their e-tron to make the most of the EV Energy Plan.
Conveniently the e-tron has a charge port located on either side of the vehicle just behind the front wheels, and the light next to the charge port goes green when charging is occurring and you press this button to release the charge cord when finished. E-trons come standard with a 4.5m Type 2, Mode 2 charging cable including domestic and industrial plug with up to 7.2kW (AC) single phase charging capability at home.
There’s keyless entry on all four doors of the e-tron and when you lock or unlock the vehicle the front and rear lights dance for your entertainment. At night you are also greeted by e-tron GT puddle lights and cool ambient lighting with many colour options available.
The e-tron GT has artificial leather interior package with the centre console, upper dashboard, door rails and door armrests covered in artificial leather with stitching The Sport front seats have leather appointed upholstery and are heated. Both front seats have power adjustment for recline, forward/back, and seat height front and rear, with the driver’s seat also having two memory positions.
The 10.1 inch infotainment system has voice control with natural speech recognition and this worked well for me when making phone calls, changing the radio station, and setting the destination on the sat nav. Under the search criteria on the e-tron’s sat nav you can search for AC and DC charging stations and it displays numerous providers, but no details if they are available or not.
The wireless Android Auto connected easily for me and wireless Apple CarPlay also comes as standard. Under the arm rest there is one 12V socket and a wireless charging pad is located on the side of the cubby and it was a bit fiddly to get my phone in and out of it. When I plugged my phone into one of the two USB-C ports there was not enough room in the cubby for my phone to fit and the armrest lid couldn’t close.
The Bang & Olufsen 3D Sound System is impressive with 16 speakers including 3D sound speakers, centre speaker and subwoofer, 15-channel amplifier with a total power of 710 watts. The media sources you have available include DAB/FM radio (no AM radio), Bluetooth, USB, and your phone.
I didn’t like the gloss black on the centre console of the e-tron as it gets fingermarks and dust sticks to it and the cup holders in centre console were on the thinner side, but did have grippy sides and a removable rubber base for easy cleaning. A couple of other features I noted in the front of the cabin were that you can only store drink bottles in the front door cubbies if they are laid down and you can’t close off the front central vents.
The rear seats are heavily contoured and you sit back nicely in them, but this design may make it difficult to fit car seats. There are two ISOfix/three rear tether child seat restraint points and the low roofline may also make it trying to latch the car seats to the rear points from my previous experience with a vehicle like this.
I found that there was ample leg room in the rear seats, but head room was tight for me and most likely not suitable for taller individuals thanks to the sloping roof line. The centre seat folds down as an armrest with two shallow cup holders that have grippy sides and there are no drink bottle storage cubbies in the rear doors. The two USB-C ports are located under the centre seat at the front above the high transmission tunnel.
Rear passengers get digital temperature control with two central vents that have individual on/off and direction controls. One fault with the climate control system I found was if any of the three temp settings were put on Hi or Lo all three of them reverted to this temperature. This is annoying because my children like Arctic temperatures even in winter and I like to be warm to hot. The solution was to set the temperature half a degree above the lowest or highest temp setting.
The e-tron GT has a gesture open/close boot or you can press the button under the boot lid, key fob or in the cabin to open/close it. The boot is large and deep, but the opening is a bit small so you need to reach down and in in order to get items from the back of the boot. The boot space has four substantial tie down points and a cargo net to keep your items safely secured. There’s one foldout hook, two lights and one 12V socket in the boot and a small amount of extra storage behind the wheel arches and under the boot floor. For extra space the rear seats have 40:20:40 split fold mechanism with the release located on the seat shoulders.
There’s also a boot at the front of the e-tron with the release for this located on the inside of the driver’s door. This boot is a good place to store your charging cords and the tyre repair kit is neatly packaged here also.
The Audi e-tron GT does not have an ANCAP safety rating, but does come with front airbags for driver and passenger, side airbags for front and rear side passengers, head level curtain airbag for front and rear. Active safety features available include Audi pre-sense basic with pre-sense rear, Audi pre-sense city with Autonomous Emergency Braking, pedestrian detection and cyclist detection, blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control that it operated using a stalk behind the steering wheel.
The 360-degree reversing camera utilises four wide-angle cameras cover the entire area immediately around the vehicle, providing a range of different views and you have front and rear parking sensors as well. For convenience you also get auto lights with high beam assist and auto wipers.
All new Audi vehicles sold come with a 5 years/unlimited kilometres manufacturer warranty and the Lithium-ion battery has an eight year, or 160,000km warranty, whichever comes first. The service interval for the e-tron is every two years or 30,000km (whichever comes first) and the e-tron comes with complimentary 6 years or 90,000kms Audi scheduled servicing and six years Audi Roadside Assistance.
Pricing for the Audi e-tron GT starts at $178,875 excluding on-road costs and as tested my gorgeous Mythos black e-tron GT was $203,875 plus on-roads. You can Build and Price your Audi e-tron GT online or visit your preferred Audi e-tron dealer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| The elegant exterior styling | Rocks gathering behind the front wheels |
| The crazy grip levels | Some interior design failings |
| The e-tron and its batteries are manufactured in Europe | The issue with the climate control temperature settings |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.