Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron Review 2024

If you’re looking for a large, prestige electric SUV that majors on providing a comfortable, quiet and relaxed driving experience, then it most certainly is. The Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron plays that role extremely well, and with a roomy, plushly trimmed cabin that’s packed with luxury kit and doesn't really compromise on practicality compared to the regular Q8 e-tron. If you’re looking for driving fun, there are rivals from BMW and Jaguar that will suit you better, but for a relaxed life, the Audi is hard to beat.

If you don’t do big mileages regularly, then you’ll probably be better off with the entry-level Audi Q8 Sportback 50 e-tron. It’ll cost you around ten grand less than the more powerful 55 version, yet it’s hardly any slower on paper and the official range is still reasonable at up to 290 miles. On the trim front, you’ll want the Sport trim. Despite being the entry-level version, it comes with lots of kit, and upgrading to S line or Black Edition trims adds quite a bit to the cost, but only aesthetic enhancements to the equipment list. The Vorsprung is properly tooled-up, but it’s mega-money.

Large, expensive electric SUVs from premium manufacturers aren’t exactly in short supply right now, so the Q8 Sportback e-tron has no shortage of rivals. From BMW, you have competition in the form of the bigger BMW iX and the smaller BMW iX3, while from Mercedes-Benz, you have rivals such as the EQC and the EQE SUV. Tesla shouldn’t be forgotten, either, although size-wise, the Audi sits midway between the Model Y and the Model X. The Volvo EX90 will likely also have a say in where your money goes, while deciding between the Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron and the regular Audi Q8 e-tron will probably depend on which you most like the look of.

Audi is famed for the poshness of its interiors, and although it’s fair to say that, in some models, the firm’s legendary quality has dwindled a bit in recent years, the Q8 Sportback e-tron isn’t among them. The big Audi feels every inch the luxury SUV, with plush feeling surfaces and tastefully selected trim pieces everywhere you look. All versions come with leather upholstery as standard, which adds a certain amount of gravitas on its own, and if you go for S line trim or above, you get upgraded Valcona leather, plus additional leather trimmings on the dashboard, door armrest and centre console. Chuck in the high-tech atmosphere you get from all the digital screens dotted about the place, and this is one very sophisticated-feeling place to sit.

All versions of the Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron get the same basic infotainment system. This comprises a 12.3-inch digital display behind the steering wheel - Audi calls it the Virtual Cockpit - that replaces conventional instruments in delivering all the important driving information (which it does very well, by the way), combined with a 10.1-inch touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard, and a smaller 8.6 inch screen below it. The top one takes care of most of the main functions, while most of the time, the lower one displays the car’s ventilation controls, although it does chip in with other functions from time to time (for instance, when you need to type in a nav destination, this is where the keyboard appears).

The screens look very glossy and high tech, the graphics look very sharp, and on most models, your fingertips get haptic feedback through the screen to confirm that the system has registered your input. However, operating various functions through a touchscreen is still more fiddly and distracting than it would be with conventional buttons and dials, and finding your way through the various menus and functions can be a little bewildering.

There’s no doubting the amount of functionality you get, though, with the system supporting connected navigation, DAB radio, two Bluetooth connections, wireless phone charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and voice control, while on top of that, Amazon Alexa is also built-in. You also get two USB ports up front, while if you go for the top-of-the-range Vorsprung model, you get two more in the rear, along with a head-up display and an upgraded Bang & Olufsen sound system.

The Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron's sloping roofline does hinder interior space slightly compared with the regular Q8 e-tron - but, perhaps, not by quite as much as you'd think.

It has an official boot capacity of 528 litres, which is just 41 litres less than the standard car. The Q8 Sportback e-tron still has a bigger boot than both the BMW iX and Genesis Electrified GV70, so it doesn't strike us as too much of a compromise. It's also a useful shape.

There’s is a small lip to negotiate when loading heavy items, but it doesn’t get in the way too much, and there’s a decent amount of underfloor storage, as well as another storage compartment under the bonnet that’s ideal for keeping your charging cables in.

When you need to maximise your cargo space, the rear seats fold down in a versatile 40-20-40 split. There’s no step in the extended load area, either, although there is a small slope because the folded backrests lie at a slight angle.

When the rear seats are being used for passengers rather than payload, those passengers will enjoy a vast amount of headroom and legroom, and even tall folk will have room to stretch out. The middle seat of the rear bench is a bit harder than those either side, but there’s enough width in the cabin to accommodate three sets of shoulders side-by-side and the low, flat hump in the floor in front of it doesn’t rob you of much foot space.

The Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron measures 2189mm wide (1937mm excluding door mirror), 1633mm tall and 4915mm long.

The Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron - provided you ignore the high-performance SQ8 version, which we are in this review, as that car gets its own review - comes with two powertrain options, both with four-wheel drive. The first of them is the 50 e-tron quattro, which has a combined power output of 340PS, making it capable of a 0-62mph sprint time of just 6.0 seconds (the same as the regular Audi Q8 50 e-tron). The motors in the 50 are fed by a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 95kWh (89kWh usable).

The other version on offer, the 55 e-tron quattro, is fed by a higher capacity 114kWh battery (106kWh usable) and has a higher power output of 408PS. This version can trim the 0-62mph sprint time down to 5.6 seconds, while both versions have a limited top speed of 124mph.

We tried the 55, and while it certainly isn’t short of go - either away from the mark or on the move - it doesn’t pick up speed with the same kind of ballistic lunacy that rivals like the BMW iX do. Instead, it unfurls its (still very brisk) acceleration in a rather more measured, more sensible way, which is no bad thing as it’s actually far more in-keeping with the car’s sophisticated, laid-back nature.

There is one thing that you might find slightly odd - and in some cases, annoying - about the Q8 Sportback e-tron’s powertrain, though, and that’s that while most electric cars and automatic cars have a ‘creep function’ - that is to say that they start moving forward slowly as soon as your foot comes off the brake - the Q8 doesn’t, so you won’t start moving until you depress the accelerator. That might not sound like a huge issue, but it can make ultra-precise parking manoeuvres feel a bit more stressful that they need to, and the car can occasionally roll backwards on a slope, which you don’t expect in a single-gear car like this.

The range you get out of your Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron will depend on which version you buy, according to the official figures. Go for the lower-powered 50 model, and its smaller 95kWh battery will take you between 266 miles and 290 miles, depending on trim level. The higher figure applies to Sport trim while the lower figure applies to top-end Vorsrpung trim, and the differences are due to the Vorsprung’s bigger wheels and extra weight.

The 55’s bigger 114kWh battery, meanwhile, means that the more powerful version can return a range of 313 miles in Vorsprung trim, or a maximum of 342 miles in Sport trim. These figures are all slightly higher than the regular Audi Q8 e-tron - that's because the Q8 Sportback e-tron is slightly more aerodynamic.

With all these figures, though, they should very much be looked on as an absolute best-case-scenario that could only ever be matched when temperature-, road-, and traffic conditions are 100% perfect, which in the real world, they barely ever will be. In everyday life, we’d bank on getting a good 50 miles less than the best-case figure suggests even in good conditions, and considerably less when it’s cold. And in the UK, it’s always cold.

To be honest, this is about as quiet as cars get. You do hear a faint whine from the electric motors as you accelerate in town, so the powertrain isn’t completely silent, but it’s a good deal quieter than if the car was packing a regular petrol or diesel motor. But even better, the hushed drivetrain is also complemented by excellent suppression of wind noise and road noise, and that applies at any speed. So, whether you’re plodding through town or pelting along the motorway, the Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron is effortlessly quiet and serene.

The level of safety kit you get in your Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron depends on which version you buy, but they all get a fair amount. Go for a car in Sport, S line or Black Edition trim, and you’ll get driver aids including lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, 360-degree parking sensors and a reversing camera. If that little lot isn’t enough to prevent you from having a prang, you have six airbags, three Isofix child seat mounting points and an eCall emergency alert system to help keep you from harm.

However, go for the range-topping Vorsprung version, and you get a whole bunch of extra safety measures. These include adaptive cruise control, adaptive cruise assist with active lane assist, turn assist, swerve assist, front- and rear cross traffic alert, a lane change assistant, 360-degree cameras and a self-parking system.

Regardless of spec, the Q8 Sportback e-tron has achieved the full five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash tests, although it was tested back in 2019, when the car was simply called the Audi e-tron Sportback.

Audi’s performance in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index might make for grim reading, because the brand emerged as the ninth worst carmaker for reliability in the study of 29 manufacturers. However, most of the problems seemed to centre around older, higher-mileage versions of the A4 and A6, and while the Q8 Sportback e-tron wasn’t namechecked specifically, newer models like the Q2 and Q3 performed much better. Fingers crossed for the Q8 Sportback e-tron, then.

Theoretically, electric cars should be more reliable than combustion-engined ones because there are far fewer moving parts to go wrong. That’ll also be why the e-tron has super-long servicing intervals of 19,000 miles or two years, whichever comes first. The three-year, 60,000-mile warranty is the bare minimum a new car buyer should expect these days, but at least the drivetrain battery is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles.

Insurance costs for the Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron will not be cheap, but then again, you wouldn’t expect them to be. All cars sit in a particular classification group for insurance, with group 1 cars being the cheapest to insure and group 50 cars being the most expensive. 

If you buy a lower-powered 50 model in Sport trim, your car will sit in group 48, while if you buy a 50 model in S line trim or a 55 model in Sport trim, your car will sit in group 49. Buy any other Q8 Sportback e-tron, and your car will sit in group 50.

If you’re wealthy enough to buy or lease an Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron, then the price of annual VED road tax is unlikely to be a deal-breaker in your purchasing decision. That said, however, you might nevertheless enjoy the metaphorical two-fingered-salute you’ll give to the exchequer through the fact that the Q8 e-tron’s status as an electric car means that it’s currently exempt from road tax. Take that, Chancellor.

The Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron range consists of four trim levels, starting with the most basic Sport, but even this one comes with a generous amount of luxury kit. On top of all the infotainment and safety stuff we’ve already talked about, the entry-level car comes with 20-inch alloy wheels, LED lighting all round, a powered tailgate, heated and power folding door mirrors, keyless entry and go, powered front seats with memory for the driver, heated front seats, leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, LED interior lighting, a leather steering wheel with brake recuperation paddles,and  passive cruise control.

Next up is S line, which adds mainly aesthetic upgrades such as 21-inch wheels, rear privacy glass, and different designs for the front and rear bumpers and rear diffuser, but it does also add the adaptive sports air suspension, front sports seats in Valcona leather, haptic feedback on the infotainment screen, and extra leather elements in the interior. Then comes the Black Edition, which adds exclusively aesthetic changes including gloss black finishes for the window surrounds, grille and bumper accents and roof rails

Vorsprung models sit at the top of the range, and these are far more tooled-up. You get 22-inch wheels, cleverer headlights that can bend their high beams around oncoming traffic, an illuminated grille, virtual door mirrors, a panoramic roof, power door closure, upgraded front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, four-zone climate control, and powered steering column adjustment, and again, that’s on top of the extra infotainment and safety gear we mentioned earlier.