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Massive sportiness in combination with an electric all-wheel drive - the Audi E-Tron GT combines both.
Photo: Daniel Wollstein / Audi
The first impression:
the Audi E-Tron GT looks more delicate than the SUV model E-Tron and, from the rear, more sporty than the Porsche Taycan.
The Tesla Model S also looks rough next to the four-door coupe.
What the manufacturer says:
When the Audi management talks about the E-Tron GT, it sounds like a liberation.
"The E-Tron GT is the beginning of a new era for Audi," says sales manager Hildegard Wortmann.
The brand's claim is to shape the future of premium electric mobility.
In the past few years, this was more Tesla.
It sounds a bit strange when brand boss Henrik Wenders claims that the Gran Turismo perfectly reflects Audi's “pioneering spirit” and “innovative strength”.
Sure, Audi is proud of the big Stromer for the electric luxury class.
But innovation is also a bit weak.
Basically, the car is a disguised Porsche Taycan.
At least the developers and managers from the second row make no secret of this.
Audi's own contribution is limited to the design and trivialities: an optional roof made of carbon, a heat pump that saves range or the sports seat that can be adjusted in more than a dozen directions.
“That's the most normal thing in the world in a corporation;
and it's no different with cars like the VW Golf and the Audi A3, ”explains one engineer.
Right.
However, the A3 has not yet been transformed into a »beacon«.
We noticed that
no matter how high the phrase threshing machine in marketing turns, the overall impression of the E-Tron GT is consistent, the car drives great.
Compared to its platform brother, the Taycan, the E-Tron appears more relaxed in terms of chassis and steering and lives up to the name Gran Turismo.
Long stretches are no longer terrifying in this car, thanks in part to the large battery.
In any case, the almost 500 kilometers that are possible in the WLTP cycle sit easily in the GT.
For comparison: the Porsche Taycan can achieve a range of up to 484 kilometers with less engine power, Tesla promises a maximum of 652 kilometers for the Model S.
The E-Tron doesn't feel much like an electric car.
Of course, it's quieter on board than in a combustion engine, and the punch of the two electric motors is enormous.
In the most powerful model, they mobilize 830 Nm of torque from a standstill and beat the 2.5-tonner to 100 km / h in 3.3 seconds during kick-down. But when the driver lifts his foot off the power pedal again, he does not feel the recuperation particularly strongly.
It is true that the Audi converts most of the energy when braking into electricity instead of into heat.
But for this to happen, the driver actually has to step on the brakes.
If you only want to drive the GT with one foot like a Tesla, you need foresight.
Another difference is the top speed: Audi allows a maximum of 245 km / h, Porsche 260 km / h.
Tesla is the front runner in this segment - with a crazy 322 km / h.
In the interior, Audi is continuing a trend: Audi barely installed switches in the A8 and Co., but installed huge screens, and the E-Tron GT is now following this maxim.
But measured by Tesla's radically reduced approach, the Audi is still overloaded.
The “animal-free” selection of materials with which Audi would like to become acceptable for vegetarians and vegans is new.
The backbenchers have to adjust.
For a car that, at 4.99 meters, is almost as long as the A8 and has a wheelbase of 2.90 meters, the rear is at best average.
After all, the car has enough space for large feet because the battery has been given a recess in the floor of the car.
And the trunk also matches the requirements of the »Gran Turismo«: 405 liters at the back and another 80 liters at the front in the »Frunk« - the vacation can come.
You have to know that:
The E-Tron GT is largely built by hand at the Audi Sport subsidiary in Neckarsulm, in "high four-digit numbers" per year, as Audi spokesman Christian Hartmann says.
It will be delivered from spring, in two versions, which always have two engines and thus all-wheel drive.
The basic model costs 99,800 euros and has an output of 350 kW, which can be increased to 390 kW for 2.5 seconds in the so-called overboost.
If you order the visually somewhat detached RS version for at least 138,200 euros, you will receive 440 and 475 kW.
Audi occupies an unusual position in the VW group family: Because Porsche also offers the Taycan with just one engine and pure rear-wheel drive, its base price is almost 20,000 euros lower.
The energy for all E-Tron variants is supplied by a battery with a net capacity of 86 kWh.
The car charges with up to 22 kW at the AC connection and with a maximum of 270 kW with direct current.
Under ideal conditions, 80 percent of the battery is filled in 23 minutes.
The E-Tron GT draws electricity for 100 kilometers within five minutes.
We will not forget that:
this synthetic thump, for which Audi has hired sound inventors from the film industry.
Less would have been more here - if it was electricity, then please in silence.
Fortunately, the "E-Tron Sportsound" is only available as an extra for 500 euros.
Thomas Geiger is a freelance author and was supported in his research by Audi. Reporting is independent of this.
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