Appears Mostly the Same

The exterior styling of the Q8 e-Tron is slightly different from its predecessor, but the changes aren’t major. There’s new front styling, which provides aerodynamic improvements, along with a longer front spoiler and new standard wheel designs. A new front lighting signature is also available. The look remains just as handsome as before and retains a more traditional SUV shape than the Model Y, though the Q8 e-Tron is also available in Sportback form with a raked liftgate that has a silhouette similar to the Tesla’s. The Q8 e-Tron looks like a luxury vehicle — which it should, given this Prestige trim’s nearly $90,000 as-tested price.

The interior goes untouched with this update, which is fine by me. It feels suitably premium and technologically advanced for a luxury vehicle, and is impressively quiet even at highway speeds. Road and wind noise are more noticeable than in an internal-combustion vehicle, but they aren’t annoying and can be easily drowned out by a podcast played at a reasonable volume.

I have two quibbles with the interior. Audi’s use of touch feedback for the touchscreen displays means “button” presses require more effort and time to register — except when I was using Apple CarPlay, which operates like a traditional touchscreen. Thankfully, you can turn off touchscreen feedback in the screen settings. With haptic feedback on, I found myself either unsuccessfully pressing an Audi control or long-pressing an Apple one, though owners will likely develop muscle memory over time. The wireless device charger in the center console was also useless as anything other than a phone heater for my iPhone 12 — even when I removed it frm its case. Wireless Apple CarPlay feels less convenient if you still have to plug in to charge your phone.

Better Driving Experience

Making up to 402 horsepower in Boost Mode, the Q8 e-Tron can go from 0-60 mph in an Audi-estimated 5.4 seconds. That’s not sports car quick, but it’s quick enough for an almost 5,800-pound SUV. If you’re looking for a sportier Audi electric SUV, consider the SQ8 e-Tron (formerly E-Tron S).

While it has standard dual-motor all-wheel drive, in normal driving, the Q8 e-Tron stays in a nominal rear-wheel-drive mode, giving it pleasant on-road dynamics. A quicker steering ratio than its predecessor also improves agility, though the steering isn’t especially communicative. Ride quality is firm but composed, just like the previous generation, and the standard adaptive air suspension continues to work well. The overall effect is that of a modest improvement to the actual driving experience, and I enjoyed driving the Q8 e-Tron more than the older model.

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Better Practical Experience

The more significant improvements come in the form of increased practicality. The updated battery pack and improved efficiency give the Q8 e-Tron an EPA-estimated 285 miles of range, up from just 226 miles last year when it was known as the E-Tron. (The coupelike Q8 e-Tron Sportback is rated at 300 miles of range.) The Q8 e-Tron is estimated to use 41 kilowatt-hours of energy per 100 miles of driving, down from the 2023 E-Tron’s 43 kWh and 100-mile rating. That still trails the Tesla Model Y Long Range’s 28 kWh and 100 miles, however. A more efficient EV will also add more miles of range per hour than a less efficient one when charging at home, all other things being equal.

Charging is also improved, with a maximum DC fast-charging rate of 170 kilowatts instead of 150 kW. Audi estimates that the Q8 e-Tron can fast-charge from 10% to 80% in as little as 31 minutes in ideal conditions. In my time with the car, I never observed 170-kW charging speeds — even at a 350-kW fast-charging station. I will say that 170 kW is something of an annoying charging rate given the state of fast-charging infrastructure in the U.S.; most stations are either 150 kW or 350 kW, leaving owners with the choice of never being able to reach the Q8 e-Tron’s maximum charging rate or hogging a station other, more capable EVs could better use.

The Q8 E-Tron has a 9.6-kW onboard charger, and when the SUV is supplied with that level of power from a home-charging system, it takes 13 hours to fully charge, according to Audi. An optional 19.2-kW charger lowers the SUV’s charging time to 6.5 hours, but that level of power requires a home charger and circuit capable of operating at 80 amps, which may not be possible without upgrades depending on your home’s electrical system.

The Q8 e-Tron also offers route planning via its built-in navigation, but the system has a few flaws that make it frustrating to use. For starters, it will count any charging station in the area or on your route as a possible charging stop, even if it’s potentially a private charger (at a non-Audi dealership or private business, for example). On top of that, while it lets you filter out non-fast-charging stations, the results still include public stations with Level 2 speeds instead of just DC fast chargers. I had more luck using third-party apps to find charging than I did using the built-in system. Volkswagen, Audi’s parent company, has yet to announce whether it will adopt the North American Charging Standard system used by Tesla, but this would be a welcome addition for road-trip charging if it also meant access to Tesla’s Supercharger network.

That said, 285 miles of range (or 300 in the case of the Sportback) gives owners more usable range for longer trips and reduces range anxiety, letting the Q8 e-Tron be more useful for longer drives than its predecessor was. Overall, the Q8 e-Tron remains a very good luxury car, and it’s now a better EV.

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