Glendal's Favorite Reviews: Audi e-tron vs Jaguar I-Pace

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2019-06-25 11:25

We see if the new all-electric Audi e-tron can gain the upper hand on our reigning Car of the Year, the Jaguar I-Pace

You might have expected premium brands like Audi to have led the charge with electric-vehicle development, but the German firm has taken a surprisingly long time to launch an all-electric product.

Now Audi has turned the taps on, though, and it’s here with its first full EV: the e-tron. This SUV costs just over £70,000 even after the £3,500 Government grant has been deducted – but then, you do get a considerable amount of technology for that premium price tag.

• Best electric cars on sale

Even though upmarket electric SUVs are still few and far between, that price point and the Audi’s 95kWh battery put it in a small but select group that our reigning Car of the Year, the Jaguar I-Pace, currently sits at the top of.

This is in every sense the benchmark the e-tron has to match up to. There are many elements to consider when it comes to living with an electric car – from range and usability to performance, tech and practicality – and given factors such as the engineering technology that underpins it and the space on offer, it’s going to be a close-run contest.

Audi e-tron

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The e-tron is Audi’s first full EV. That badge has been used on plug-in cars before, but the tag now represents the brand’s electric models. At £72,270, this is the cheaper of the two variants available (there’s a higher-spec Launch Edition in the line-up, too), but it still gets plenty of kit. Let’s see how it fares.

Design & engineering

The e-tron is based on a heavily adapted version of the MLB architecture, with the 95kWh battery mounted in the floor. This is partly why the car sits up high and partly why it’s so heavy, at 2,490kg. Weight is the enemy of efficiency, so this seems slightly at odds with the e-tron’s ethos.

The car uses two electric motors, one on each axle, for a total of 402bhp and a different take on Audi’s quattro four-wheel drive. Like pretty much every electric car, there’s a single-speed automatic gearbox.

Air suspension is also standard, unlike on the Jag. It’s linked to the car’s drive mode select set-up, offering Offroad, Allroad, Comfort, Auto, Efficiency and Dynamic.

This is integrated in the lower of the two touchscreens. It’s an 8.6-inch unit that mostly controls the climate settings. The upper 10.1-inch screen is used for the infotainment, while there’s a 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit, too. It’s nice tech, but not very different from that found in more conventional Audis, with positives and negatives to this.

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You get lots of kit even in this base spec, although that’s a relative term. This entry-level e-tron does without the car’s trademark virtual door mirrors, but it has nav, phone integration and lots of safety equipment. There are also 20-inch alloys, climate and adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera, heated leather seats, LED lights, DAB, wireless charging and keyless operation. It’s all integrated into a cabin that’s executed with the usual quality we’ve come to expect from an Audi. Materials and build quality are good.

Driving

EVs are characterised by their relaxing driving experience. An instant and fat swell of torque means many are smooth and serene, and sharp, responsive performance is another common trait. While the Audi is definitely relaxed, acceleration isn’t anywhere near as impressive as in the I-Pace.

It’s partly due to the weight. The Audi is very heavy, and this dulls the punch when you hit the throttle. It’s far from slow, but it could be more rapid.

It took 5.4 seconds to sprint from 0-60mph compared with 4.4 seconds for the Jag, but EVs are as much about easily exploitable acceleration at any speeds. At least the e-tron has enough urgency here; it took 1.7 seconds to go between 30 and 50mph, although this was still slower than the I-Pace.

It’s not as quick, then, and also not as comfortable. Despite the e-tron’s standard air suspension, on these £950 21-inch wheels the Audi’s alloys rebound aggressively over harsh bumps. It’s more settled on the motorway, where the car’s weight means the damping feels smoother at higher speeds. But then its near-2.5-tonne bulk means it’s not very agile.

The steering has even less life than in most other Audis and you sense the weight trying to tear the e-tron off your chosen line. Special mention should go to the torque-vectoring system, though; this shuffles power to help it turn better. You can feel it working unobtrusively to improve the car’s handling.

Practicality

Thanks to where the e-tron’s battery is located in the chassis, there’s a useful 660 litres of boot space. The Audi’s footprint is also larger than the Jaguar’s, which translates to more room in the cabin as well.

The practicalities of living with an EV are as much about charging, and with up to 150kW charging capacity available, e-tron charge times are respectable. Using a 3.6kW domestic feed a full charge will take 26 hours and 45 minutes. Very few EV owners will do without a home wallbox, though; an 11kW supply like this will top up the battery in a much more respectable eight hours and 45 minutes, so you’ll be able to go from empty to full overnight.

Rapid charging at 50kW – currently the most common option in the UK – takes 70 minutes for an 80 per cent boost, while charging at the e-tron’s maximum 150kW rate (there are only a handful of chargers that support this in this country at the moment) gives an 80 per cent top-up in 30 minutes.

Ownership

With fewer moving parts than a normal car you’d expect electric vehicle servicing to be more affordable. Not with the e-tron, though, because a two-year package costs £799. Jaguar is planning a new service plan range for this summer, but prices aren’t out yet.

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Audi came 16th in our Driver Power 2019 satisfaction survey to Jaguar’s ninth, but the e-tron’s safety is strong and it gets a full five-star crash test rating, thanks to standard autonomous braking and lane-departure warning. Blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert are part of a £625 pack.

Running costs

Electric cars are all about efficiency, but the Audi’s effort is a little disappointing. We saw 2.3 miles per kWh, which means its 95kWh battery should give a maximum range of 219 miles. At £13 for a full charge based on an electricity price of 13.8p per kWh, it works out at just 6p per mile.

The Jag was more efficient, returning an average of 2.5 miles per kWh. Although the 90kWh battery is smaller, its more efficient powertrain will give a total real-world range based on this figure of 225 miles. Using the same electricity cost, this works out at around 5.5p per mile.

Testers’ notes: “The e-tron can cope with 350kW charging, so its usable life should be well into the future as infrastructure improves. The battery gets an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty, too.”

Jaguar I-Pace

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Not only is the I-Pace our favourite premium EV, it’s also our reigning Car of the Year, so the e-tron is going up against one of the best cars on sale, not just the best in the class. At £74,995 in top-spec HSE trim, it’s a little pricier than the e-tron, but is the Jag actually better value and therefore a better car?