Say hello to…
…the Audi E-tron GT, a pure-electric four-door, five seat, grand tourer with sporty looks and performance to match. While Audi badges the car GT, it also refers to it as a ‘sportscar’. While the performance (0-62mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 152mph) is sportscar quick and the styling matches that pace, in reality it’s much more usable on an everyday basis – which makes the GT name far more accurate. It’s a subtle distinction, but one that’s worth making.
Peak power of 476hp is fed by a battery with a useable capacity of 83.7kWh and drives all four wheels. The battery can be charged at up to 270kW – if you can find a charger capable of that delivery speed.
Excluding the RS model, there are two trim levels:
- Quattro
- Quattro Vorsprung
Standard equipment on the Quattro includes 20-inch alloys, keyless entry and start, heat pump, cruise control, speed limiter, lane departure warning, parking sensors, reversing camera, satnav, wireless phone charging, leather seats, LED headlights, panoramic sunroof, powered front seats and heated front seats.
The Vorsprung version gains adaptive suspension, matrix LED headlights, uprated sports seats with ventilation and massage function, heated rear seats, memory function for driver’s seat, head-up display, adaptive cruise control, uprated stereo, powered steering wheel adjustment and powered front passenger seat.
Is The Audi E-tron GT Suitable For My Fleet
Arguably the E-tron GT has much more in common with an Audi A8 saloon than the R8 sportscar. Couple this to a 2% benefit-in-kind rating and a 410 litre boot and a small storage area under the bonnet (not to mention five seats and four doors) and the GT is far more suitable for business than you may initially expect. Add in a claimed range of 300 miles and you can see why it’s popular – particularly for those top execs and entrepreneurs running their own businesses. Even our test range was a very usable 230 miles, find fast chargers and the E-tron GT makes for a surprisingly sensible company car.
Leasing An Audi E-tron GT
Lease rates are at the higher end of the spectrum, as you’d expect for a car with a list price that starts around the £85,000 mark. However, they are still what you’d call reasonable for a car in this sector. Intelligent Car Leasing is offering the entry level E-tron GT for £1,122 a month on a 3+36 contract with an annual 10,000 mile limit. What’s more impressive is the maintenance cost at £51 a month, according to Gensen Reports.
Driving An Audi E-tron GT
Don’t be misled by the Audi E-tron GT’s looks. The sportscar design hides a car that’s far more practical and with a broader wealth of talent than the styling suggests.
For starters, the GT is far easier to live with on an everyday basis than most sportscars.
Dealing with the mundane, parking and manoeuvring is simple thanks to a good turning circle, parking sensors and a good reversing camera. In fact, it’s easier to park than some large SUVs.
While the rear seats aren’t quite as accommodating as those in a large SUV, they’re easily big enough to carry a couple of teenagers without any complaints.
Accurate steering helps position the car precisely on the road not only with everyday driving but when you want to have some fun on more open roads.
The car is, as you’d expect, fast. Zero to 60mph in 4.0 seconds is quick in anyone’s book. But again, at no point is the car intimidating. If you’re used to the instant shove that EVs deliver, this Audi E-tron GT won’t surprise. What it allows is effortless cruising and simple and safe overtaking. And because it’s all electric, the refinement is superb. Audi allows a fake ‘engine’ noise option if you want, but you can turn it down or off too and even if you don’t it’s not intrusive in everyday use.
All-wheel drive also helps the car feel secure in all conditions, but particularly in the wet, when more than 460hp plus a lot of torque would normally be a handful.
Capping everything off is good ride comfort and should you want a firmer ride, there’s Sport mode that lowers the suspension, sharpens the accelerator response and improves the handling further, but for 90% of the time regular Comfort mode is more than enough.
If there are negatives, then the regenerative braking is slightly unintuitive as it operates on a predictive automatic basis which takes some getting used to. Or, if you switch this off, the manual regen mode doesn’t allow one-pedal driving. The charge ports are also located on the front wings, which means you’ll have to drive forwards into a charging bay and then hope the cable’s long enough to reach.
In the overall picture, these are small points and the impression you’re left with is of an EV that does exactly what it sets out to do; to be a refined, fast, tourer for a grown-up audience.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The Audi E-tron GT
A surprisingly good all-rounder as well as a fast zero-emissions grand tourer.
Audi E-tron GT
- Model: E-tron GT Quattro
- Power: 476hp
- Torque: 640Nm
- Max speed: 152mph
- 0-62mph: 4.1s
- Official range: 300 miles
- Test range: 230 miles
- CO2 emissions: 0g/km
- BIK tax band 2022/23: 2%
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