Even by the standards of silly fast EV execs, the current Audi e-tron range looks a bit daft. It kicks off with the S e-tron GT, which offers up to 680hp, then moves on to the RS e-tron GT, costing almost £130,000 and boasting up to 857hp. Or more than twice the power of an RS3. The top-of-the-range e-tron GT, the 'performance', can summon up 925hp. The only thing it’ll do faster than accelerate is depreciate from its £143,820 RRP. So now there’s a new entry point to the range, the ready salted e-tron GT quattro: less power, less money, slightly less violent acceleration.
Naturally, this being an e-tron GT, it’s still plenty potent enough, the dual motors supplied by a 97kWh (usable) battery and providing 503hp. Which was proper super saloon territory not all that long ago. With the launch overboost, the GT is rated at 585hp, meaning a four-second lunge to 62mph - plenty fast enough. Coming in at 30kg less than an S e-tron GT (if still around the two-and-a-quarter-tonne mark), Audi claims 386 miles of range for the GT quattro, which can be replenished at up to 320kW.
Otherwise it’s as you were for the e-tron GT; like plenty of these ‘entry level’ EVs, so much more of the appeal is retained against the upper rungs of the range because you aren’t missing out on an engine upgrade or drastically different look. ‘Large wheels, a sleek coupe-like silhouette, and an extended wheelbase contribute to the vehicle’s sporty proportions’, reckons Audi, and from here the new model looks as handsome as any other GT, even with ever so slightly smaller wheels. The drag co-efficient is rated at 0.24.
Easy to imagine this model being the pick of the GT range, as with the supposedly lesser Taycans and BMW i5s. On the Audi UK website, there’s only a ‘keep me informed’ link for the moment, but there is a price: £88,555. Or very nearly £20k less than the S e-tron GT, which starts from £108,720. The Audi is just a little bit more than the £88,200 Taycan, which can offer more range (421 miles) but only rear-wheel drive and an overboost maximum of 435hp. An i5 M60 is knocking on the door of £100,000, though can boast 600hp if that appeals. Plenty to think about, then, when the e-tron GT quattro lands soon. Not least whether you might want to forgo all the sensible thinking and take a punt on a lightly used one with a million horsepower instead…
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