First the worst
Despite a thorough facelift, Audi’s original EV remains o the pace.
Audi SQ8 e-Tron Black Edition Month 7
The story so far
After seven months, the verdict on Audi’s big electric SUV is in ★ Refinement; dynamics; space - Range; digi mirrors; gremlins
Logbook
Price £106,310 (£115,120 as tested) Performance 106kWh battery, three e-motors, 496bhp, 4.5sec 0-62mph, 130mph E ciency 2.2 miles per kWh (ocial), 2.1 miles per kWh (tested) Range 269 miles (ocial), 223 miles (tested) Energy cost 12.0p per mile
Miles this month 1053 Total miles 7775
I’ve spent seven months ripping on the SQ8 for its rubbish e ciency, user-unfriendly digital mirrors, unreliable charging and other niggles. But every sinner deserves a shot at redemption, so we’re heading out of Crickhowell for the Black Mountains to give the SQ8 one last chance to shine.
Over the narrow bridge where this massive e-SUV is a wide load, then the grey stone houses thin and we climb through ferns and pass boulders deposited millennia ago. Swooping around sweepers and threading hairpins, the 2725kg SQ8 has every right to be a wallowing wreck. But it isn’t.
Each rear wheel is spun by its own electric motor, and clever variable torque management delivers more power to the outer wheel, helping pivot the Audi into corners. It feels like a sophisticated and incredibly fast-acting diff.
The SQ8 packs 718lb ft of torque in total, so no surprise that it’s a mighty quick machine, accompanied by an engaging electronic soundtrack through the speakers.
This facelifted car benefits from a revised steering rack with delightful fluidity, directness and weighting. The brake pedal is up there with any EV’s: meaty first contact segueways into prodigious stopping, or chuck in one or two paddleshift clicks approaching a corner for the regenerative braking to trim your speed.
The speed warning’s gentle triple bongs remind me to stay legal, while a long press of the indicator tip deactivates lane assist so I can go wide to line-up corners. The Bridgestone Alenzas grip hard and the air suspension braces the car, while seldom floating over sharp crests – the ride is pretty taut but comfortable enough. It’s a fun few hours, and a reminder that dynamics really are the SQ8’s strongest suit.
What about the rest of the ownership experience? It’s great to have a charge port on each flank but I’d settle for just the one so long as it worked reliably: as was too often the case at other locations, the SQ8 packed up on the Osprey CCS charger in Abergavenny so I had to return to restart the process.
Despite the massive 106kWh battery, the fully-charged SQ8 projects a range of about 200 miles in winter and 240 in summer. That short range is down to poor e ciency – an average of 2.1 miles per kWh over its 7775 miles with us.
The route planning is good: constantly surfacing your nearest charging options and calculating charge remaining at your destination. The lame voice control sounds and acts like a tran
quilised Terminator, and a complicated digital air-con panel at knee height is unwise.
However, the worst of many electronic limitations are the digital side mirrors. They fog up, are fiddly to adjust, indistinct in low light and a hazard when parking. The tiny screens, narrow field of vision and over-sensitive warnings contributed to me scraping the SQ8 within weeks of its arrival. Given they cost £2875 with the City pack, they’re best avoided.
I’d skip the £2595 Tech pack too unless you really value an illuminated grille and heated rear seats – its glass roof is too small to lift the spacious and quiet but dark cabin. The deep 569-litre boot (with heaps of underfloor stowage) transforms the Audi into a pretty useful van with the seats folded, but the flimsy parcel shelf strays off its runners. Then there are the gremlins: doors that struggle to unlatch, bogus messages of air suspension, electrical system or parking brake failure, patchy iPhone connectivity…
If software updates fix all this, I’d have the revised e-Tron over a Mercedes EQC. But Jaguar’s i-Pace, a tempting used buy, and the BMW iX are better EVs.
Count the cost Cost new £115,120 Partexchange £59,600 Cost per mile 12.0p Cost per mile including depreciation £7.26
|t’s a fun few hours, and a reminder that dynamics really are the SQ8’s strongest suit