2024 Audi Q8 e-tron Reviews, Pricing & Specs

If you consider yourself something of a fashion-forward extrovert, the Q8 e-tron’s 8 out of 10 score here might drop a digit, or two. It’s true, Audi didn’t perform wholesale design changes when transforming the e-tron into the Q8 e-tron.

Even the Sportback version, which has a lower rear roofline for an au courant SUV coupe-like profile, doesn’t draw much attention to itself. Audi redesigned the front grille and headlights to give the Q8 e-tron a wider and more planted look. The same is true of the larger front air curtains (hint, they’re the things that look like brake ducts, but actually aren’t) and bodywork around the wheels. The effect is a slightly sportier design, and one that’s more aerodynamic than before. New wheel designs and an underfloor that’s completely flush thanks to a fibreglass cover give the Q8 e-tron a 0.29 drag coefficient in the standard SUV. This drops to 0.27 cD with the slinkier Sportback model.

The Launch Edition model we tested was finished in Daytona Grey Pearl exterior paint with a contrasting Flint Grey interior and orange stitching. Riding on black-painted, 21-inch “aero structure design wheels,” the Q8 e-tron is a handsome SUV inside and out—though also one that never turned a single head during our day behind the wheel. Remember what we said about automotive extroverts possibly being underwhelmed?

In Canada, the Q8 e-tron and Q8 e-tron Sportback will be offered in a single trim level each for 2024, each skirting six digits in its pricing. Our tester had all the bells and whistles, along with added touches like a body colour front grille, black roof rails, black headliner, Valcona/Milano leather, and mesh anthracite dash inlays.

The 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron is motivated by a 402-horsepower, dual-motor electric powertrain that sends power to all four wheels courtesy of its standard quattro all-wheel drive (AWD) arrangement delivered via a pair of electric motors. According to Audi, accelerating from zero to 100 km/h takes 5.7 seconds and the top speed is governed at 200 km. During our time with it, we tested the former performance figure plenty, though not so much the latter. Credit some common sense, as well as the twists and turns of the Pacific Coast Highway that constituted a large chunk of our day-long route.

Acceleration is strong but not overwhelming. To be honest, that’s perfectly fine. The available power is expertly matched to the Q8 e-tron’s nicely balanced steering ratio and suspension tuning. There isn’t a ton of sensory feedback from the handling when zipping around corners, though we always felt perfectly in control. An air suspension is newly standard on every Q8 e-tron and the ride was absolutely level and even keeled—including a few moments when overdoing the approach speed to several treacherous hairpin bends.

Larger alloy wheels, like the 21-inch ones fitted to our test vehicle, can often make a vehicle’s ride brittle and jarring over imperfect roads. That wasn't the case with the Q8 e-tron: its composure was constant in all driving situations. There were a couple quirks, however. The brake pedal’s travel is very short; our first stabs at it resulted in jerky all-or-nothing stops. Thankfully, it becomes better after some familiarization. The steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters that control the regenerative braking are another matter. They feel gimmicky in a cabin with this much poise and polish—and differences between the highest and lowest setting weren’t all that noticeable. We usually ignored them, and the Q8 e-tron was better for it.

Driving range in the standard Q8 e-tron SUV is now 459 kilometres. This rises to range specs of 476 km with the Sportback variant. This won’t rattle the likes of Tesla or Lucid in terms of overall range numbers, but it's a major improvement over the outgoing e-tron.

Charging times are also lower because the Q8 e-tron can take up to 170 kilowatts during DC fast charging, versus the outgoing car's charge port accepted a 150-kilowatt maximum. Audi says a 240-volt home charging station with the standard 9.6-kWh charger requires 13 hours to charge the 106.0-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. A 19.2-kW charger is available and cuts those 240-volt charge times down to around 6 hours.

Similar to how it looks and drives, the Q8 e-tron doesn’t rewrite the rulebook in terms of its interior layout or design. The front seats proved extremely supportive on twisty sections of road, and they are equally comfortable during more sedate highway cruising, too. Space in the second row is ample for two adults, or three if everyone is on friendly terms. There is 993 millimetres of legroom in the rear seats, which compares favourably to competitors like the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV (970 mm) and BMW iX (988 mm).

Behind the 40/20/40 split-folding second row you’ll find 807 litres of cargo volume. That’s a perfectly fine, if not overly generous, amount of space for an SUV this size. The Sportback variant’s cargo volume is only slightly less, at 770 litres. And yes, each has a front trunk, or “frunk” to use the increasingly accepted term. But at only 56 litres in capacity, it’s not of much practical use.

Audi has an excellent reputation when it comes to the quality of materials and trim used in its cabins. This holds true for the Q8 e-tron; the finish of the interior is first rate and befitting a vehicle with a starting price of more than $90,000. Even ignoring the fancier leather upholstery and contrasting stitching found in our test vehicle’s cabin, the Q8 e-tron interior is one attractive and user-friendly place to conduct the business of EV driving.

A touchscreen-intensive dashboard like the one found in the Audi Q8 e-tron often looks wildly futuristic, but it can prove equally frustrating to use when trying to control simple functions while driving. Granted, the infotainment system in the Q8 e-tron is feature rich and requires practice to understand its many menus, but once that’s accomplished, we found it easy to navigate through a wide range of commands.

In the centre of the dash is the main Audi MMI 10.1-inch infotainment screen, while below it is a separate touchscreen devoted primarily to climate control settings. A few physical controls are always welcome, true, though after a while we found it easy and not too distracting to jump from navigation, to radio settings, and back to adjustments in temperature and fan speed. Better still, a button on the upper right-hand side of this panel allows you to completely turn off the main infotainment screen. It’s perfect for those times when you just want to focus on the road.

The clear graphics provided by the Audi virtual cockpit and head-up display fitted to our Launch Edition trim proved helpful, especially with navigation guidance. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and a wireless smartphone charger tucked into a deep recess in the centre console does an excellent job keeping a phone fully charged and free from flying around the cabin during hard cornering. Trust us, we can vouch for it.

Since the Q8 e-tron serves as Audi’s top-of-the-line electric SUV, it stands to reason that its safety equipment will be generous. Standard active safety and driver assistance features include automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with lane guidance, blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert, automatic high-beam headlights, and more.

Crash test ratings have not yet been released for the 2024 Q8 e-tron. Yet, it’s worth noting the 2023 e-tron SUV earned a 5-star safety rating in crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), along with a Top Safety Pick+ score by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for its performance in crash tests and standard crash avoidance tech.

Two Audi Q8 e-tron models are available in Canada. In its single available trim, the 2024 Audi Q8 e-tron is priced at $92,500, not including a $2,850 destination charge and other fees. The 2024 Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron is priced at $95,800 in its sole trim. Both prices are too high to qualify for federal or provincial electric vehicle incentive programs.

While the Q8 e-tron isn’t what we’d call inexpensive, its price is competitive with very high-end rival EVs. Ironically, the fact it doesn’t visually shout it’s electric or have towering horsepower figures work to its advantage. Consider it a more mature take on an electric SUV, yet one that’s surprisingly entertaining on narrow canyon-hugging roads.

Note: Images show a US model.