AUDI SQ8 E-TRON
Did we like the big EV as much as its big mileage suggests? The final verdict’s in
Seats were as relaxing as you would expect in a £100,000-plus car
FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 14,778
WHY WE RAN IT To see whether a recent update has kept Audi’s flagship EV at the leading edge
Most of all, I’ll remember the Audi SQ8 E-tron Sportback for its prowess as a milemuncher. It came to us with fewer than 400 miles on the clock, and when it departed several months later its odometer showed 14,778, putting it on course for a 30,000-mile year. Plenty of people still do these, admittedly, but it’s not as common as it used to be, especially for a big EV.
This mile-eating capability bears a lot on the kind of driving life I lead, because while amassing all those miles I discovered that the Audi has just as many characteristics that oppose its easy high-mileage use as promote it.
On the positive side the SQ8 E-tron looks very imposing, especially dressed in our car’s flawless Ultra Blue paint (a surprisingly cheap £795 option). The car earns admiration wherever you take it. It also reeks of quality (the solitary visual glitch is a curiously unfinished look to the centre console) and has some of the most comfortable and supportive seats ever put in an Audi, crosshatched in rich tan leather that makes them visually impressive too. Chuck in the generous seating and space of the rear passenger compartment, which allows your family and friends to ride in something close to splendour.