Now that I’ve had a few months of living with the Audi e-tron GT, I’ve come to really appreciate the interior design of the four-door sedan. Well, that and the fact I haven’t visited a gas station in 2022.
During the first month or so with the all-wheel-drive, all-electric grand tourer I was mostly focused on the performance attributes of the well-behaved vehicle, from its lightning-quick acceleration to its supreme handling. The benefits of that floor-mounted battery pack can not be understated, particularly in terms of creating a low centre of gravity that keeps the sedan pinned to the road and translates to very little body roll in tight corners.
But there’s another advantage to that battery placement, one that most EVs enjoy. And that is an uncluttered floor, as there is no need for a transmission tunnel running down the centre of the cabin.
The driver-centric cockpit of the 2022 Audi e-tron GT. CREDIT: Andrew McCredie Photo by Andrew McCredie
On several occasions, I’ve had back seat passengers — full-grown adults, some over six feet — and not once have I nor my front-seat passenger needed to move our seats up to relieve knee crowding in the back. That expansive rear legroom is but just one example of the excellent ergonomics of the cabin.
Of course, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as Audi interiors have for years been, in my opinion, among the best in the auto industry. There’s a certain sophistication, and simplicity, to the controls, the gauge packages and the general cabin layout that just lends itself to first-class functionality with no compromise to tasteful design. And I’d argue that the e-tron line-up has taken that design language up a notch, particularly the GT model.
For me, this is most notable from the cockpit vantage point, where the driver has few distractions from the task at hand, which of course is driving.
The two display screens — one viewed through the steering wheel, the other on the centre dash — can be tailored to your personal liking, such as having the navigation map right in front of you and comprehensive energy consumption information on the centre screen, or visa versa.
Climate controls are located just below the centre dash screen, with actual buttons – yeah! — and a little lower down is a row of buttons dedicated to driving modes and settings. The centre-console located gear selector differs from other e-tron models and features a simple sliding switch that is as elegant as it is efficient. The start-stop button is also located on the centre console and is ringed with red creating a nice contrast to the black and brushed metal trim in my tester. The only other splashes of red are the ‘P’ on the gear selector and the bespoke phone charging cable located in the centre console armrest storage area. A phone-sized cargo tray and circular sound system dial complete the centre console features.
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT> Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT> Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
2022 Audi e-tron GT. Photo by Andrew McCredie
The flat-bottomed steering wheel features paddles shifters that control the three regenerative braking settings, and thumb-operated controls on each side of the Audi symbol centre provide infotainment scrolling options and volume controls. A small stalk off the steering column controls cruise control functions. Personally, I’d prefer this control to be operated from the steering wheel thumb controls, and find the stalk system to be woefully outdated. Seems out of place on such a cutting-edge vehicle. Back to that steering wheel: it’s meaty and a pleasure to hang on to, and is heated for those particularly chilly mornings.
What are not out of place, particularly given the performance abilities of the e-tron GT, are sport seats, front and back. They are well-bolstered and built for both spirted short sprints and day-long road trips, with cooling and heating settings up front and heated seats in the rear. There is a seatbelt for a middle passenger in the back, but this seems more to be able to say this is a five-passenger vehicle than to provide a jump-seat of sorts for anything more than a short drive.
As much as the e-tron GT looks like a fastback in silhouette, the rear glass is not part of the trunk, however that doesn’t take away from the surprisingly spacious cargo capacity back there. Pop open the smallish trunk lid and you can slide in a couple of large pieces of luggage into the 350-litre space, or as we do every week, four plastic grocery bins with room to spare. The 60/40 rear seat split provides room for longer items, and I’ve had three pairs of skis poking through there with three adults onboard for a day at Whistler.
It might seem like a small detail, but the design and execution of the door handle exemplifies the attention to detail found throughout the e-tron GT. CREDIT: Andrew McCredie Photo by Andrew McCredie
Of course, as this is an EV, there’s a frunk, this one a deep well that swallowed three ski boot bags, helmets and goggles. On either side of the frunk are two storage areas: one holding a first aid kit, a jack and a pressurized air bottle for tire filling; the other a traffic triangle, power air pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter and more jacking hardware. Fortunately, I had not needed to use any of these items during my long-term test. What I have used, probably every time I’ve driven the e-tron GT, is the simply sublime Bang & Olufsen sound system.
In the final instalment of this long-term review, coming in a few weeks, I’ll focus on the charging and consumption aspects of the Audi e-tron GT.
Keyword: Long-term test update: 2022 Audi e-tron GT