2025 Audi Q4 e-tron review
Compared with German compatriots BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi has been hamstrung for electric options in its Australian line-up. Until now. Coinciding with the arrival of stricter emissions standards locally, the luxury manufacturer is preparing for a fresh onslaught of EV models from 2025, beginning with the long-awaited (and slightly delayed) Audi Q4 e-tron.
The mid-size SUV serves as a new EV price point for the German car maker, and gives it a foothold in one of the industry’s most popular segments. All told, the Q4 e-tron range fits the brief appropriately, but you can’t help but feel Audi’s best work is yet to come.
How much does the 2025 Audi Q4 e-tron cost?
The four-model Audi Q4 e-tron line-up opens at $84,900 (plus on-road costs) in Australia for the Q4 45 e-tron SUV.
For an additional $1600 outlay ($86,500 plus ORCs), the Q4 Sportback 45 e-tron packages the same rear-drive drivetrain in a raked coupe-like body style.
Handily at those prices, the two rear-drive Q4 45 e-tron models sneak in under the Luxury Car
Tax (LCT) threshold in Australia ($91,387) – precluding them from that tax altogether and attracting benefits for novated leasing customers.
Further up the food chain resides two more powerful, all-wheel drive 55 e-tron quattro models. The Q4 e-tron 55 e-tron quattro employs a more traditional SUV shape, priced at $105,900 plus on-road costs. Meanwhile, sitting atop the line-up is the mechanically identical yet swoopier Q4 Sportback 55 e-tron at $107,500 plus on-road costs.
The Audi Q4 e-tron aligns on price with German rivals like the BMW iX3 (from $91,000 plus ORCs) and Mercedes-Benz EQB (from $89,100 plus ORCs).
It is also likely to be cross-shopped against the newly redesigned Tesla Model Y (from $68,799), not to mention a host of other established and new electric rivals. One such rival is the forthcoming Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq, which share the Q4’s underpinnings.
What is the Audi Q4 e-tron like inside?
The Q4 e-tron is quintessential Audi on the inside, which is a good thing.
The five-seat interior ably balances quality touchpoints and materials with thoughtful proportions and excellent tech.
The Q4’s original 2021 European launch date means it doesn’t align with the latest trend of adjoining screens spanning half of its dashboard. Instead, there is a dedicated divide between centre infotainment screen and driver instrument cluster.
However, the Q4’s MEB architecture does enable a flat floor space across both rows of seating, which has given designers relatively free range to implement plenty of storage compartments, bins and open cubbies for odds and ends.
Likewise, the door cars feature the usual bins near the door sills, as well as handy bottle holders in front of the door handles.
This inherent practicality is contrasted with a fitting digital veneer inside too, thanks to haptic displays on the steering wheel and centre fascia. Happily, though, there’s an assortment of hardwired buttons and switchgear to ensure the Q4 e-tron won’t alienate traditionalists.
The Q4 e-tron belies its relatively short 4.6-metre exterior length from the rear seat by maximising its 2.7-metre wheelbase to great effect. Once you’ve negotiated the relatively small second-row door aperture, proportions inside are adequate for a couple of adults or children in forward-facing child seats. There are certain areas where the Q4 takes advantage of cheaper materials (with harder touchpoints on the doors, for example – or, for the eagle-eyed outside, drum rear brakes), but on the whole, the rear seat ably mirrors the refinement and design of the two pews in front.
Meanwhile, the Q4 e-tron’s boot space (520L-535L depending on variant) offers ample space for a couple of full-size suitcases or a designer pram, together with split-fold adjustment, a luggage net and space for charging cables underneath. If anything, our biggest boot gripe is the lack of a physical spare tyre.
What equipment does the Audi Q4 e-tron come with?
The entire Audi Q4 e-tron range comes fairly well loaded with kit.
Even the base 45 e-tron offers 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights with daytime running lights, electric tailgate, ambient interior lighting, three-zone climate control, auto-dimming rear view mirror and front seat heating and four-way lumbar adjustment.
Meanwhile, infotainment comprises an 11.6-inch centre touchscreen display paired with a 10.25-inch digital instrument clusters (virtual cockpit in Audi speak). Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are also standard fare, as is MMI native navigation and an eight-speaker Audi sound system.
Moving up to the 55 e-tron models brings larger 20-inch alloy wheels, Matrix LED headlights with dynamic turn indicators front and rear, brushed aluminium inlays and additional lashings of leather inside.
On the aftersales front, the entire Q4 e-tron range is backed by a five-year/unlimited kilometre factory warranty in Australia, while the battery is backed by a separate eight-year/160,000km term.
The purchase price also includes a six-year complimentary Audi roadside assist package and a one-year Chargefox public charging subscription.
A six-year servicing plan for the Q4 e-tron will set buyers back $2050, based on two-year intervals.
How safe is the Audi Q4 e-tron?
The Audi Q4 e-tron comes armed with the usual laundry list of safety credentials, along with a five-star Euro NCAP rating backdated to 2021. It’s worth noting, however, that no current Australian ANCAP rating was available at the time of writing.
Along with the requisite driver safety acronyms (ABS, ESC), there’s also adaptive cruise control, exit warning system, Audi pre-sense front and rear with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), rear cross-traffic alert and a reversing camera with front and rear parking sensors as standard.
The 55 e-tron models add active lane assist, emergency assist and full Stop&Go adaptive cruise control functionality, together with a superior 360-degree overhead camera.
— Sam Charlwood
What powers the Audi Q4 e-tron?
You can essentially have your Audi Q4 e-tron drivetrain in two flavours: rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
For what it’s worth, the rear-drive 45 e-tron models offer the greatest range of the model mix (524km claimed for the SUV, 540km for the coupe) despite sharing the same 82kWh battery as the dual-motor 55 e-tron siblings (which offer 488km and 503km claimed range respectively).
That said, the 45 e-tron’s 210kW/545Nm outputs pale slightly against the all-paw 55 e-tron’s which makes a combined 250kW and 134Nm from its front motor and 545Nm at the rear. Ditto the official nought to 100km/h times across the range, which read 6.7sec for the 45 e-tron and 5.4sec for the 55 e-tron.
All Q4 models in Australia offer a maximum DC charge rate of 175kW, which correlates with a 10 per cent to 80 per cent charge in 28 minutes claimed.
Using a three-phase 11kW AC wall charger, a nought to 100 per cent charge takes eight hours, while a single-phase 7kW AC wall charger will take 12 hours to fully replenish, according to Audi.
The manufacturer offers both single-phase and three-phase home charging options to customers at the point of sale.
What is the Audi Q4 e-tron like to drive?
In a word, the Audi Q4 e-tron offers a pleasant driving experience.
At the national press event held in Adelaide this month, it feels poised and connected to the varying surfaces underneath, with crisply weighted controls and adequate everyday shove.
It’s a car that happily takes on tedious commutes as well as it does open-road touring, traits underlined by a comfortable cabin, minimal road noise and wind noise plus the ability to dial up or down the level of regenerative braking via the steering wheel paddles.
Ultimately, though, the Q4 falls short of benchmark EV dynamics, beset with a soft, inconsistent brake pedal action and a lack of body control in faster conditions.
Even though the 55 e-tron models promise all-paw grip and greater control on account of variable-ratio or ‘progressive’ steering, plus sports suspension, the 45 e-tron is the more enjoyable model on offer in our mind.
Its less aggressive steering tune, compliant suspension and lack of a front-mounted electric motor means cornering prowess comes more naturally, and it navigates bends calmly and fluidly.
Granted, the 45 misses out on some straight-line acceleration against the all-paw 55 quattro, but its cheaper purchase price and on-road poise feels altogether more convincing on test.
Across all Q4 models, it’s clear that eco tyres and circa 2100kg kerb weight aren’t infallible – think some accentuated body movements on rougher, faster roads and a tendency to walk around on the Hankook rubber fitted.
But collectively, it feels like a cohesive and efficient everyday SUV, emerging with a combined energy usage of 16.5kWh/100km and a workable real-world range easily north of 450km.
The NRMA’s take on the Audi Q4 e-tron
The Audi Q4 e-tron represents a new EV guard for Audi, which for five years has been solely reliant on the original e-tron (later Q8 e-tron) waving the electric SUV flag.
But even with the advent of the Q4, it’s the slightly larger Q6 e-tron that we’re more excited for. That car rides on the much newer PPE Audi architecture, which enables better packaging, greater EV range and more refinement.
The Q4 e-tron certainly doesn’t miss the mark in the interim – it’s polished, pleasant and refined on-road – but it merely keeps pace with rivals, rather than surging past them.
For that reason, it’s the base 45 e-tron that strikes a chord most with us. It’s a sound choice if silence is your preferred powertrain in a new set of wheels.
What we liked
- Pleasant driving mannerisms and useable real-world range
- Clever integration of technology and safety
- Noteworthy aftersales credentials and warranty
What could be better?
- No spare tyre of any kind, drum rear brakes and soft brake pedal
- Audi’s newer PPE architecture products promise superior range and packaging
- 55 e-tron models lack dynamic cohesion on-road compared with cheaper 45 e-tron models
