The Q4 e-tron. Source: Audi
A more affordable electric Audi is on the cards for Australia, but an official confirmation is still facing delays due to demand in other countries where incentives to buy EVs are more prevalent.
Audi currently has three e-Tron models on offer, or coming soon, for Australia: the original e-tron SUV range, the e-tron S SUV and Sportback and the e-tron GT.
Starting list price for the cheapest of these is just under $126,000 for the e-tron 50 quattro, putting the entry-level e-tron just above $150,000 after additions like the luxury car tax, state registration fees and stamp duty (if there is no waiver) and dealer delivery.
So when we had the chance to ask Audi corporate communications manager Shaun Cleary recently if there was a chance a sub-$100,000 e-tron would ever make it to Australia, we jumped at it.
Official word is that the Q4 e-tron that would fit this remit is still not confirmed for Australia, but with a little caveat in the form of an “all but”.
That “all-but confirmed” status was clarified in a recent note from Cleary, who describes the Q4 e-tron as an “exciting next step in Audi’s product line-up.”
“As a zero-emission SUV in a popular segment of the premium market, we’re convinced there would be strong appetite for the Q4 e-tron in Australia and are working closely with our headquarters in Germany to confirm local arrival,” he said.
But he added there is still a job to be done convincing Audi’s overseas HQ, and the reason behind this is that same old chestnut: very simply, the carrots available to drivers overseas to switch to electric, coupled with sticks for carmakers should they not reduce fleet emissions, are more generous and stricter respectively, meaning that Audi has to satisfy demand elsewhere first.
“However, there is still some work ahead of us, given the high volume of customer demand for the Q4 e-tron in Europe and other markets around the world,” says Cleary.
“As you know, Australia lacks some of the EV incentives that exist in other parts of the world, such as legislated CO2 emissions targets and federal tax concessions.
“This makes it harder to justify the prioritisation of Australia, ahead of other countries that have more advanced electric vehicle market conditions.”
Australia’s lack supporting, in particular bans of new petrol and diesel car sales (by 2025 in the case of Norway and 2030 in the case of the UK) mean that carmakers have a much larger focus on overseas markets to ensure their customers keep buying their cars, and are ready to accept their all-electric offerings.
Norway is an excellent example, not least because the Q4 e-tron was its best selling EV in January. Most cars sold in Norway now are all-electric: in March, almost 14,000 new EVs hit the road accounting for 86% of all car sales.
More recently, the Audi Q4 e-tron, which sits between the compact Q3 SUV and the mid-sized Q5 in terms of size, has lost that title to the Tesla Model Y, an interesting statistic that brings us to price.
Cleary noted that it is far too early to comment on pricing and specifications for Australia, particularly in light of the changing market due to supply chain issues and other factors like battery materials prices.
But we will note that in Norway, the entry-level Q4 e-tron is a 35 quattro that starts at NOK389,100 (about $A60,000), whereas the Model Y Long range – the cheapest Tesla electric crossover available currently – is priced from NOK549,990 before on-roads (about $A84,410).
With Audi typically introducing the 50 and 55 quattro – the first of which starts at NOK 476,000, or around $A73,000 – in Australia, it means the Q4 e-tron would be a strong competitor to the Model Y, which is sure to be popular when it finally does go on sale locally.
That’s yet another hurdle for Audi, whose parent group Volkswagen has aspirations of becoming the “biggest source of electric vehicles in this country.”
Keyword: Audi Q4 e-tron “all but” confirmed, but policy still a hurdle