Item: Audi Q8 E-tron 2022-2025
Rating: 3.5

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The Audi Q8 E-tron is not quite the car you think it should be. No, it's not an electric version of the Audi Q8, rather a new name for the the Audi E-tron SUV that arrived in 2018 as Audi’s first proper EV.

It made headlines with its impressive 150kW peak charging rate, but even then the range was nothing to write home about. The transition to the Q8 E-tron in 2022 brought some substantial upgrades.

The name change brought the flagship Audi EV's nomenclature in line with the smaller Audi Q4 E-tron and Audi Q6 E-tron and the now-abandoned strategy to use even numbers for EVs and odd numbers for ICE cars.

Verdict

Audi SQ8 Q8 etron 2025 Review front corner 79

Model tested:

Rating: 6

Used Audi Q8 and SQ8 E-tron 2022-2025 review

Audi's first proper EV was pioneering when it launched as the E-tron, but it's now very behind the times for efficiency, range and charging. Well-appointed and nice enough to drive, though.

Good

Easy driveability

High-quality interior

Refinement and isolation

Bad

Poor energy efficiency and disappointing range

So-so rapid charging speeds

Ride and handling are decent but not outstanding

DESIGN & STYLING

Pros

Handsome and well-proportioned enough

Cons

Quite old, and it shows in its EV credentials

A little bland-looking

There are some visual tweaks over the previous E-tron SUV, including new alloy wheel designs and redesigned bumpers and grilles, but the big news is to be found under the skin. Five years of advances in battery energy density have enabled Audi to increase the usable capacities of the battery packs from 71kWh to 89kWh (in the entry-level 50 variant) and from 89kWh to 106kWh (in the 55 and the sporty Audi SQ8 E-tron). Meanwhile, more advanced motors and a reduced drag coefficient have improved the energy efficiency.

To top off the upgrades, there’s faster steering, retuned suspension (as before, all variants ride on air springs) and cleverer stability control and traction control.

Not all get on with the ‘virtual mirrors’ and they save only about five miles of range. They allegedly also cut wind noise at high speeds, but that’s not as useful on the M25 as it is on an autobahn.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

At the same time, the sporty E-tron S has become the SQ8 E-tron. This 496bhp electric SUV retains its distinctive tri-motor layout (one at the front and two at the back), which allows it to do true torque vectoring. As such, it can send up to 162lb ft more torque to one wheel than the other, thus actively rotating itself through the corner.

As before, the Q8 E-tron is an understatedly handsome and well-proportioned car, and is available as both a standard SUV and a slope-roofed Sportback, which we think doesn’t suffer the ungainliness of some SUV-coupés.

INTERIOR

Pros

High perceived quality

Comfortable seats and driving position

Cons

Not very visually arresting

Not outstandingly easy to use

Not much has changed inside either, solid build quality and upmarket materials remaining present and correct.

It’s no longer in the flush of youth, this car, yet it still feels expensively turned out and put together, with a perceptible sense of long-lasting solidity to its secondary controls and a lustre to its trim and hide that looks and feels like the money.

The lower touchscreen (for the climate controls) still does a job that knobs and switches could do better, but it works quite well, as does the main infotainment touchscreen.

The sports seats are easy to get comfortable in and there’s no shortage of storage space. Five-up passenger space in the Q8 E-tron is perfectly adult-appropriate, although the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV does offer more rear leg room, because its dedicated EV platform allows more of its length to be devoted to occupant space.

The Audi does offer slightly more boot space, though, at 569 litres.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Pros

Entry-level versions are quick enough

Good driveability and progression

Cons

SQ8 doesn't have enough extra power to make waves as a performance variant

No one-pedal driving mode

Audi SQ8 Q8 etron 2025 Review front corner 6

To drive, the Q8 E-tron is pleasant and mostly unremarkable. A 0-62mph time of 5.6sec is quick by any reasonable standard, yet it doesn’t suffer from the jumpy throttle response of Teslas and some other EVs.

You can vary the amount of regenerative braking using paddles or simply let the car figure it out in the adaptive mode. There's a freewheeling mode but no option for true one-pedal driving.

If you want to go faster, there's also the SQ8 E-tron with 496bhp. However, it finds itself in a strange grey zone of performance: it offers more than any reasonable person could need yet isn't so fast that its performance becomes a true selling point. It's outgunned by rival EVs like the Porsche Macan Turbo Electric and Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV.

RIDE & HANDLING

Pros

Good level of isolation

Handles tidily

Cons

Ride is choppier than you would expect for an air-sprung luxury car

Tri-motor powertrain in the SQ8 E-tron adds little

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The Q8 E-tron's standard air suspension strikes a different compromise to that of say, a similarly-specified Mercedes. It removes you from the road surface passing underwheel by isolating and filtering noise and disturbance, rather than by soaking up every last lump and bump.

Find a relatively smooth road, then, and the Q8 E-tron will prove supremely relaxing. On a bumpy UK road, however, there can be a bit of head toss.

You wouldn’t call the Q8 E-tron particularly sporty. It handles tidily, with decent grip, tight body control, well-weighted, progressive steering and a subtle sense of rear bias, but it’s too big and heavy for you to really want to chuck it around.

That's more of a problem for the supposedly sporty SQ8 E-tron than the standard car. With its firmer suspension settings, its ride gains some additional restlessness. It stops short of being truly bothersome, but then the tradeoff in handling isn’t really there.

You might expect those twin rear motors to give the SQ8 E-tron a unique dynamic character, but apart from slightly improved agility, you would be hard pressed to notice the difference from the regular car on a dry road.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Pros

Relatively well-priced

Cons

Poor efficiency and disappointing range

So-so rapid-charging speeds

The Q8 E-tron ceased production in February 2025, and with that ended decades of Volkswagen and Audi production in Brussels, Belgium.

When the Q8 E-tron launched in 2023, prices start at £67,800 for the 50, while £80,300 bought you the 55 and the SQ8 E-tron came in at £97,500. The Sportback bodystyle then demanded a £2500 premium whichever powertrain you chose.

It was relatively well-priced compared to rivals like the BMW iX and the now also discontinued Mercedes-Benz EQC and Jaguar I-Pace. Looking slightly further afield, you might also consider the Genesis Electrified GV70 or even the Kia EV9.

The Q8 E-tron's biggest problem was always its energy efficiency, despite supposed improvements over the original E-tron. A WLTP figure of 2.6mpkWh is pretty poor, and on our test drive in mild, changeable conditions, the digital gauge cluster indicated just 2.1mpkWh – a figure that would translate to a real-world range of just 223 miles.

We ran an SQ8 E-tron on our long-term fleet and found that its efficiency wasn't much worse, despite the additional energy-sapping motor. No better either, mind you.

When it does need a top-up, the 55 can accept charging rates of up to 170kW – a useful increase but nowhere near the rival Genesis Electrified GV70’s 240kW limit.

VERDICT

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Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 6

Used Audi Q8 and SQ8 E-tron 2022-2025 review

Audi's first proper EV was pioneering when it launched as the E-tron, but it's now very behind the times for efficiency, range and charging. Well-appointed and nice enough to drive, though.

Good

Easy driveability

High-quality interior

Refinement and isolation

Bad

Poor energy efficiency and disappointing range

So-so rapid charging speeds

Ride and handling are decent but not outstanding

The E-tron was Audi's first serious attempt at an EV, and it stacked up in this nascent segment upon its launch. In turning it into the Q8 E-tron, Audi gave it a brace of updates in an attempt to let it keep pace with new rivals.

The car's lack of distinguishing driver appeal and very poor energy efficiency (and resulting middling range) meant that was only partially successful. Now that it's out of production, there's no shortage of more compelling rivals, such as the updated BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, Genesis Electrified GV70 and Audi Q6 E-tron, which is a bit smaller but no less practical.

TECHNICAL SPECS

Model tested:

Audi Q8 55 E-tron Sport

Price:

£80,300

Electric motor/s:

Two asynchronous motors

Driveline layout:

Dual-motor, 4WD

Model tested

Audi Q8 55 E-tron Sport

Price

£80,300

Electric motor/s

Two asynchronous motors

View all specs and rivals

Driveline layout

Dual-motor, 4WD

Power

402bhp

Torque

490lb ft

0-62mph

5.6sec

Top speed

124mph

Kerb weight (DIN)

2510kg

Battery size

114/106kWh (total/usable)

Energy efficiency

2.6mpkWh

Range

330 miles

Max. charge rate

170kW

Rivals BMW iX xDrive40 Genesis Electrified GV70 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV

Power

402bhp

Torque

490lb ft

0-62mph

5.6sec

Top speed

124mph

Kerb weight (DIN)

2510kg

Battery size

114/106kWh (total/usable)

Energy efficiency

2.6mpkWh

Range

330 miles

Max. charge rate

170kW

Rivals BMW iX xDrive40 Genesis Electrified GV70 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV

Illya Verpraet

Title: Road Tester

As a road tester, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews and comparison tests, while also managing the magazine’s Drives section. Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s in-depth instrumented road tests.

He loves cars that are fun and usable on the road – whether piston-powered or electric – or just cars that are very fit for purpose. When not in test cars, he drives an R53-generation Mini Cooper S.