Join The Q

Why admirers of Audi’s new Q8 e-tron will form a long line

WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

Maybe it’s familiarity, the dashboard of Audi’s new Q8 e-tron ripe with screens to touch, buttons to press, or knobs to twist yet so easy to navigate, but the second you slip into the driver’s seat you’re immediately at ease. This is, of course, by design, and it’s a major achievement of Audi’s to make something so techy so reassuringly simple.

In turn, this smart EV, Audi’s flagship SUV, is a breeze to drive, smooth and effortless and blissfully quiet, particularly at high speed.

But let’s stick with its slick interior for a while. There is ample space for five and no obvious detriment to headspace in the back if you opt for the swooping Sportback version over the standard SUV shape, the two body types available for the Q8’s range of 50, 55 and S-badged versions.

The seating has gone through a thorough thought process. A three-stage ventilation system makes it hugely comfortable even with the outside temperature raging, while Audi’s individual contour front seats offer up a wealth of adjustment and comfort opportunities – one of which is to be massaged by ten pneumatic cushions, set to one of three levels of intensity.

You can add an engaging design element to the seats by opting for the Audi Sport stitching package, adding striking red lines to the seats, steering wheel, and door armrests, among other areas. But the most noteworthy aspect of the interior relates to the use of recycled materials, the natural next step for all EVs to take but one area in which Audi is already making strides. Recycled materials are used for carpets as well as in insulation and damping materials. The Q8 e-tron’s decorative inlay is available in an anthracite tech fabric made partly from recycled PET bottles, while in the S line equipment package you’ll find sports seats upholstered with artificial leather and Dinamica, a luxury, suede-like fabric made from recycled polyester.

Furthermore, the plastic covers of the seatbelt buckles have been produced in part from mixed automotive plastic waste. The question of how to deal with the stifling Middle East summer probably wasn’t posed when Audi’s designers were debating climate control, but their decision to grant it a dedicated, easy-touse high-resolution 8.6-inch touchscreen is a very welcome one for our region. Always visible, there’s no need to fumble around to first find and then adjust the air flow, which is one of a number of subtle safety considerations across the car. In fact, the Audi Q8 e-tron provides drivers with approximately 40 driver assistance systems, including five cameras and twelve ultrasonic sensors. It makes parking it a doddle.

Above the climate controls is another touchscreen — this one 10.1-inches — that comprises all the other controls you’ll typically find laid out across a car’s dashboard. Additionally, many of these functions can be activated by voice command.

This is the first time the e-tron and e-tron Sportback SUVs have been branded as the Q8, and to mark the occasion an external styling refresh includes a redesigned grille, restyled lighting elements, and updated wheel designs. When it comes to colours, there are eleven to take your fancy, five of which are debutants, including an Ultra Blue Metallic — the hue of the Sportback model we whizzed around Dubai in — which is exclusively available for the S line.

The Q8 e-tron is also the first model to feature Audi’s new flatter, two-dimensional rings branding. “As a prestigious model, the Q8 e-tron represents Audi’s ‘e-volution’, so it is only logical for this vehicle to be the first to use the new four rings design,” says designer André Georgi. This e-volution will see Audi’s electric portfolio extend to 20 models by 2026, the date from which the brand will produce EVs only.

That Audi feels confident enough to shift its entire production so soon, relative to other manufactures, is due in part to the battery capabilities of the Q8 e-tron, which sees improvements in both capacity and charging power. The large-battery

SUV has an WLTP range of up to 582 km, while the Sportback equivalent will take you 600 km, thanks to its enhanced aerodynamics. And if the power supply is suitably optimal, the model ranges will take between 28-31 minutes to charge up from 10 to 80 per cent. Impressive figures indeed.

Two electric motors provide all-wheel drive and give the car the feeling of being meticulously balanced. It really is a serene drive.

If only everything else, like charging it when out and about, was equally effortless. If the region is to hit its on-road EV targets (Saudi Arabia aims for at least 30 percent of its cars to be electric powered by 2030), it needs to accelerate the number of fastcharging points available for drivers. Do so and, with the good reason, you’d expect a good chunk of that 30 percent to be Audis. A brand that’s leading the electric charge, the Q8 e-tron its flagbearer.