Audi e-tron vs Audi Q8 e-tron

Audi’s use of “e-tron” is confusing. First, it’s technically lowercase, like this: e-tron. But that’s just weird. Second, since the name first appeared on a 2010 concept vehicle, both plug-in hybrids and electrics have worn it. Third, Audi has used e-tron interchangeably as a model name and a powertrain designation. This review is about the e-tron SUV model in its Sportback configuration.

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The 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron and its tapered-rail compatriot, the Q8 e-tron Sportback, prove an electric SUV doesn't need over-the-top style or rocket-like acceleration to impress. If anything, the Q8 e-tron duo are remarkably subtle in their approach to design and even driving dynamics. This could win over car shoppers who are intrigued by an EV, but who are not interested in making a four-wheeled fashion statement everywhere they go.

As the replacement for the Audi e-tron electric SUV, which first appeared for the 2019 model year, the Q8 e-tron’s most important improvement over its predecessor is its additional driving range. Depending on the chosen bodystyle and trim, this varies from 285 to 300 miles per charge. That compares to the miserly 226 miles the e-tron previously offered.

We recently took the 2024 Q8 e-tron in Launch Edition trim for a test drive on tight, twisty, and often very foggy coastal highways in central California to see how Audi’s newest electric SUV stacks up against rivals like the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, BMW iX, Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X.