Audi Q4 e-Tron

[VindictivePantz]

After the excellent conversation in this thread, and looking at future ICE repair bills, our family's driving needs, and a few other factors, we made the leap to become a 100% EV household a few weeks ago.

We still have the 2021 MME but replaced my wife's ICE vehicle with a 2025 Audi Q4 e-Tron. She's been driving an Audis for 20+ years, so we wanted to find something familiar in the EV space for her.

We ended up pulling the trigger on the specific vehicle we got because:

• It was either a dealer or corporate car, with only 2,000 miles on it
• It listed easily over $25k than what we got it for, so thanks to Audi for taking that initial depreciation hit
• Had all but 8 months of the original warranty + another year/20k stacked on top of it because it was CPO
• Sport upgrade (mainly just trim, bigger wheels)
• Winter package (heat pump)

Initial observations:

• Core EV experience is fine; very similar to the MME
• Charger door is reliable and well built
  • It locks the cable by default, which can be changed
• Drives like a dream
  • Turns on a dime, highly responsive; possible one of the best steering and handling experiences I've ever had
    • It's very well balanced; the EV battery + Audi drive system and the overall weight distribution really shines
  • Braking is a bit soft
  • It rides very smooth, but my comparison vehicle is the MME
  • Very quiet interior
• Backup camera is stellar - I need to look at the specs of the camera and the screen, but if it's not 4k, I would be surprised
  • No mirror/side cameras
  • No front camera integration into the software, which I've been spoiled with on the MME
• There's no 1PD; they have something that is a more aggressive regen that slows the car down, but does not provide quite the same 1PD experience.
• "Meh" tires - Going to probably replace them before winter with CC2 or CC3
• Interior is all Audi; top-notch build, quality materials
  • They learned from the VW ID.4's launch with mostly tactile, real buttons. There are still a few touch-sensitive controls on the steering wheel, but they've added a lot of contouring to make it feel like something between a button and a touch interface. All the HVAC and other controls are all hardware buttons, dials, etc.
  • The screens are small relative to the MME. In this model year, it feels like a traditional car. In the 2026 and newer, they've changed that quite a bit.
  • There appears to be more room in the backseat than the MME - by quite a bit
• The vehicle is a lot smaller than an MME, but the cargo space is not bad. The MME's extra height a width help - but it's not a drastic difference
• The in-car software is pretty basic, and the UI is older; it supports Android Auto and Apply Play, so I do not need to use it all that much
  • The mobile app is pretty good, but I've not pushed it as much as the Ford app
  • The UI on the dash is really nice, with 5-6 different layouts I can choose from
• The frunk is not really a thing. There's a hood, but no storage. However, I can get to the 12V and other things I need to without any hassle.
• I can install a hitch on it. I only really need it for a bike rack and two regular bikes, but the fact that it's approved makes it a lot easier.

Waiting to see:

• I am supposed to get a solid 175kW on DC, with no drop in charge curve, but we'll see
• We've not driven it on a longer trip quite yet
• I am also anxious to see how it does in the winter with the heat pump. I am not holding my breath.
• The 12V seems to be the weak link based on how much they talk about it in the manual, so I plan on proactively replacing it just like the MME
• Mandatory service once per year, and the brakes are expensive. It's going to be more to maintain than the MME, but I can get some pre-packaged packages to keep the costs predictable
• I will most likely extend the warranty. If it's like other Audis we own, it can get expensive very quickly if something breaks, and with an EV, even moreso

Two big items:

• No Tesla Supecharger network, at least yet. They've not made it available for this model, or some of the VW ID.4s (basically, the same car.) It's fine as there are now finally enough L3 chargers wherever we go, and if not, there's the MME.
  • I expect they'll have in "soon". If this were 2-3 years ago, it would have been a non-starter
• So far, I have not found a community like this one where people really know how everything works. It reminds me how awesome this community has been, not only for the MME, but learning about EVs in general.

Audi (and Volkswagen) do not have a stellar EV reputation. Each model year has significant changes, and there are big differences between a 24 vs. 25 vs. 26 as they continue to refine. Their 27s are going to be a big leap forward (I think they're moving to a 400v 800v architecture.)

Overall, it's an amazing vehicle, and it looks like they really focused on keeping the Audi experience at its core and did not deviate too much.

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[B177y]

....Their 27s are going to be a big leap forward (I think they're moving to a 400v architecture.)

Do you mean moving from 400v to 800v? I can't imagine that VW is less than 400v currently, but I really don't know.

 

[VindictivePantz]

Do you mean moving from 400v to 800v? I can't imagine that VW is less than 400v currently, but I really don't know.

You're right. Too many numbers in my head.

 

[E90alex]

There are reports of Q4 owners successfully charging at Superchargers by just selecting a different model in the Tesla app.

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