What does the fabulous Audi E-Tron GT really lack? The answer is neither power nor equipment, but longer range. It has got that. And yes, it now also has much more power.
TEXT Morten Beck PHOTO PR
Bilbasen was invited to Germany by Audi Denmark
If the car factory, the assembly line and the halls with robots and parts, is where the magic happens and the car gets its soul, you must be able to sense a lot about a car by visiting the factory. I’ve been lucky enough to see car factories in countries like the Netherlands, Germany and China, and apart from the glass factory in Dresden where Volkswagen threw million upon million after the amazing Phaeton, I’ve never seen much magic in any car factory.
If the magic is robots that work accurately and dizzyingly fast, then there is magic in all the big car factories. But there is not the magic that I experience at the Audi factory Böllinger Höfe near Heilbronn. At Böllinger Höfe, parts are assembled, an unusually large number of them manually, which become the electric car E-Tron GT. The electric top model, the close sister of the Porsche Taycan.
I’ve always been partial to the E-Tron GT because it shines like the million and more it costs. Its serious and powerful forms are not for fun. The E-Tron GT feels like mechanics in action, which is extremely unique for an electric car. It says something, the mechanics and the electronics, and it says exactly the notes that make me believe that the electric car will in no way be the end of the enthusiast car.
With the factory visit, I have warmed up more. The temperature is now closer to red-hot, because it’s a classy insight to see how the Audi Sport people work closely together in a small factory to both develop, test and assemble the fantastic car.
It’s not the only thing. I am in Germany to renew my knowledge of the E-Tron GT to the same extent, because Audi Sport has been around most of the big electric car to make it better. Better it has become, where it should be, while the rest of the renewal is more of an extra layer of icing to sweeten the wildest electric car Audi makes.
Ready for longer stretches than before
The E-Tron GT is a grand tourer – a touring car, where the invitation comes with suggestions for long journeys in large mountain passes, along the Riviera and on the Autobahn and autostrada. It’s a nice notion that the biggest electric car from Audi is a sports car, but it’s a pity when the E-Tron simply does its job as a grand tourer so well.
Except that a grand tourer should ideally be able to drive long stretches before being forced to stop. That was the problem for the first edition of the E-Tron GT. It couldn’t stretch quite far enough with an 83.7 kWh battery. 491 kilometers on a charge, even with the very fast charging through the 800 volt system, should be better.
More cells and more content improve things so significantly that at best, the E-Tron GT, in the new S edition, hits 605 kilometers on a charge. 105 kWh total capacity, of which 97 kWh are available, in the new battery, which can also be charged even faster than before. DC charging with up to 320 kW – and Audi demonstrates that the car can reach it, even if the car has been stationary overnight.
The battery is bigger, but the E-Tron GT is actually a little lighter than before. The development of battery technology not only provides a lower price per kilowatt-hour, but also cells with higher efficiency and density. At around 2,400 kilos, the weight is in the large-SUV class, so it is good that there is no shortage of surplus to move all the weight.
The new S is stronger than the old RS
The Audi Sport folks have trashed the E-Tron GT model range and are starting from scratch. Where before there was a standard model with 476 horsepower and an RS E-Tron with 598 horsepower (646 horsepower for a shorter time with boost), the base model is now more powerful than the old RS: S e-tron GT has 592 horsepower, but with boost with launch control, it temporarily rises to 680 horsepower.
The new S model is the subtle E-Tron GT with the most elegant design. Here you drive a little more under the radar (as if that is possible in the E-Tron GT) than in the RS variants. Variants as in multiple variants? Yes, there are two. RS E-Tron with 680 horsepower (boost: 857 horsepower) and RS E-Tron Performance with 748 horsepower, which reaches 925 horsepower at launch control.
The regular RS E-Tron, if you can say that, is in a pinch. Everyone will ask if you bought the Performance edition, and do you really feel like saying no every time? No. The price difference of DKK 160,000 is irrelevant in those air layers, and therefore the choice will not fall on an RS that is not called Performance.
The RS E-Tron costs largely as before with its approximately 1.6 million. But there is no longer an E-Tron GT for around a million, because right now the S version is the entry into the E-Tron universe at 1.32 million kroner. Maybe there will be an E-Tron GT with lower performance and lower price, maybe not. But there will never be a version with rear-wheel drive, which is otherwise an option in the Taycan. Although Audi Sport once made the R8 RWD with rear-wheel drive, four-wheel drive – Quattro – is a badge of honor that is not taken lightly.
An S model in full bloom
I’ve been determined to try the S version on the trip with the facelifted E-Tron GT, which goes to Frankfurt and the factory in Heilbronn. That’s because I don’t see the E-Tron GT as a sports car, but as the powerful long-distance car where, in an electric version of that concept, you have to have the longest possible range.
The adaptive air suspension has been fundamentally renewed, and Audi Sport has gone after the desire that everyone goes after. More dynamics, but also more comfort. The steering wheel? More excitement and more pleasure. This applies to all three model variants, and the differences are primarily in horsepower and design. Only RS Performance is available with new carbon fiber trim inside and out – camouflage matt. It’s made to look like military camouflage, and they must be proud at T. Hansen for getting an agreement with Audi to supply it. It’s ironic of course, but in my opinion it’s downright destructive to the E-Tron GT design.
Audi Sport has gone a different way than the Porsche people, and even before the E-Tron GT was more compliant and more kindly tuned in the suspension than the Taycan. The difference is now even greater, and without the Audi floating or floating over the road, the damping is more forgiving than before. Full and complete control with 230 km/h, which the S E-Tron GT reaches as easily as nothing.
Denmark has vanishingly few real hairpin bends, and it is also best for the E-Tron GT to avoid the really tight bends. This is where the weight finally comes into play. The result is not understeer or paralysis of the driving characteristics, but a little inertia shines through. The steering is excellent, but again the tightest curves help to show that the Audi people deploy more lightness than the Porsche people. The steering is not so much blurry as it is a little too soft in that situation.
My fascination with the E-Tron GT increases during the three-hour stage in the S model. Improved where needed, refined on many other parameters. The interior is still intimate, but new materials and interiors, such as the light in the test car, freshen it up.
I also make a longer trip in the top model, the RS E-Tron Performance, which has a Boost button in the steering wheel to summon all 925 horsepower. Even at 180 km/h on the Autobahn, it’s a button that unleashes intoxicating performance. It’s an insanely fast car compared to the S model, which is just extraordinarily fast. What you choose is up to the individual, because the E-Tron GT is fascinating in any case.
SPECIFICATIONS
Audi S E-Tron GT
Motor: Electric motors (front and rear)
Performance: 592 hp/ 740 Nm (680 hp with launch control)
0-100 km/h: 3.4 seconds
Top speed: 240 km/h
Consumption: 18.2 kWh/100 kilometers
Range: 605 kilometers
Battery size: 105 kWh (97 kWh usable)
Charging capacity: 320 kW
Dimensions (L/W/H): 500/196/137 cm
Curb weight: 2,385 kilos
Draw weight: 0 kilos
Trunk volume: 405 liters
Price: DKK 1,319,990 (E-Tron GT available from this price)
Private leasing (one-off payment/monthly payment): Not disclosed
Tax basis, company car: Not disclosed
