SPORT FOR ALL? (some text hidden) SECTIONED_new_audiq8sportbacketron_2023

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 111

Back in 2022, Audi's Q8 e-tron large luxury full-electric SUV got offered with a smarter look in the form of this Q8 Sportback e-tron model. Like the standard SUV version, this Coupe-SUV derivative offered the choice of two battery sizes and two or three-motor drive options. Back then, the Q8 e-tron was the only model in the class offering two body style options and this, the sleeker variant, made more sense than its Sportback e-tron predecessor thanks to its more class-competitive EV driving range figures. Plus, as with that previous model, it was difficult to better in terms of practicality and refinement. How does it stack up as a used buy?

Modelsword count: 7

5dr SUV (50 quattro, 55 quattro, SQ8)

Historyword count: 347

Audi's very first EV back in 2019 was the big e-tron SUV, subsequently also made available in a sleeker Sportback form in 2020. By 2022 though, the segment competition was very different, but this design still had years to run, Audi re-engineered, reworked and revitalised this design - so much that it gave this car a new name: the Q8 e-tron. Or, as in this case, the Q8 Sportback e-tron. The name was confusing given that at the time of this car's launch in late 2022, Audi already had a completely different model badged 'Q8' - a conventionally petrol-powered large coupe-SUV almost completely unrelated to the model we're looking at here. That combustion model had become rather out of step with the brand's then-current Q-series naming convention, which was supposed to see even numbers designating EV-powered crossovers and odd model numbers designating combustion-powered ones. What the ordinary combustion Q8 did share with the old e-tron (and also shared with this Q8 e-tron) was the VW Group MLB chassis it sat upon. It's never really a good idea to base an EV on a platform originally designed to work with fossil fuel - Audi's never done so since and won't do again. The original e-tron, in both its forms, struggled particularly with the weighty downsides of that approach, which manifested themselves in clunky kerb weight, which in turn led to stodgy handling and, more seriously, to an increasingly feeble-looking level of EV driving range. Hence the original model's relatively modest 150,000 sales in its first four years of production at its advanced carbon-neutral Brussels plant. Really, a completely new approach was needed but with this Q8-branded update, Audi had to do what it could to make this luxury EV Crossover a more competitive proposition. Primarily with larger, longer-ranging battery options. And a minor sharpening up of handling and styling. A tri-motor SQ8 e-tron model joined the line-up in 2023. It was all a worthy effort to try and save this design but ultimately, it didn't pay off and production ended in 2024, when the car was not replaced.

What You Getword count: 743

Two Q8 e-tron body styles were offered, the Sportback (or focus here) or the standard SUV. It's surprising just how much you can change the look of a car with a relatively minor facelift. Really all Audi's did here to update the old model was to reprofile the bumpers, smarten the grille and redesign the wheels, but the effect was a small but satisfying move up-market. The Q8 Sportback e-tron is certainly a substantial piece of Ingolstadt real estate, over 4.9-metres long and sitting over 1.6-metres high, though there's plenty of panelwork sculpting to disguise the bulk, including a mid-level crease that flows through the door handles and a prominent upper rear swage line that emphasises the powerful rear haunches. The key difference over the brand's ordinary Q8 e-tron SUV is obvious from a profile perspective, a coupe-like rear roofline cut from the A7 Sportback, which sweeps back 14mm lower than on the SUV version, via steeply-raked D-pillars, into a liftback-style tailgate. A bit more effort was made with this update at the front, where the aforementioned reprofiled bumper emphasised more prominent triangular corner cut-outs on each side. The huge octagonal Singleframe grille with 'e-tron' branding along its lower frame came grey-trimmed on lesser models and black-finished on more expensive ones. Either way, it got a smarter look and a new self-sealing system which together with electric shutters, made it more aerodynamic. Plus the grille could be fully illuminated as an option. At the rear, as is usual with Audi's large models from this period, a light strip connects the LED tail lamps to one another, emphasising the substantial 1,937mm body width. Behind the wheel, not much changed here as part of the Q8 e-tron update. Which means this cabin probably won't feel as futuristic as in a rival BMW iX, Mercedes EQE SUV or even Audi's own e-tron GT quattro; but then it wouldn't do because all those cars were clean-sheet designs based on bespoke EV platforms. This one, as we've been saying, was rather less EV-unique underneath, so perhaps it's not surprising that, at first glance, it feels just like any other large Audi to sit in up-front; mainly because of the familiar three-screen format, with upper and lower ones on the centre stack, respectively 10.1 and 8.6-inches in size; and Audi's usual 12.3-inch 'Virtual Cockpit' display facing you through the three-spoke steering wheel. But once you get comfortable and start to look around, key differences become apparent. A wrap-around trimming arc envelops the outer perimeter of the e-tron-branded dash, the fascia designed with the different architecture it needed to be able to sweep out and incorporate the optional virtual mirror screens. Also rather different is the wide, open centre console between the seats, which of course on an electric car like this doesn't have to accommodate a bulky transmission tunnel. So the brand instead created this multi-faceted compartment to fill the space, a storage area which looks like it should be lidded but isn't and which rests on open sidewalls, intended to lend to it the feel of a light, sleek sculpture. An acquired taste is the unusual gear selector, operated by a hand rest which appears to 'float' above the console and is activated by a one-touch action conducted with either thumb or index finger. But the leather-stitched seats are superbly comfortable and position you fairly loftily. In the rear, this Sportback body style's 14mm reduction in ceiling height might bother you if you're a 6-footer - your head will be brushing the immaculately crafted roof liner - but otherwise, it feels pretty spacious in the back. Inevitably you'll be much less comfortable if there are three of you and you're stuck in the middle: shoulder room with a trio of adults wouldn't actually be too bad, but the middle seat is narrow and has a stiff backrest. We'll finish by considering cargo space. There's a compartment under the bonnet, but since that's only 60-litres in size, we'll ignore it and tell you about the boot area. You get a powered tailgate of course, which rises to reveal a 528-litre luggage bay for this Sportback body shape - which is 39-litres less than the ordinary boxier Q8 e-tron SUV body shape can offer. There's also a useful under-floor storage area. Fold down the rear bench (which folds conveniently in a 40:20:40-split) and 1,567-litres of capacity is freed up. That's 70-litres less than an ordinary Q8 e-tron SUV body shape.

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