The all-electric 2024 Audi Q4 e-tron could be a new opportunity for the German marque to penetrate government and business fleets, the company’s product boss says.
Audi Australia head of product Matthew Dale told CarExpert the Q4 e-tron’s entry price positioning – which brings the new electric crossover under the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) and Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) thresholds for fuel efficient vehicles – opens up the four-ringed marque to new opportunities with fleets that may never have considered the brand’s products before.
“We haven’t had a car, an EV, that has taken up any of the [government] EV incentives up to this point. Having this car positioned the way it is with the 45 [e-tron] with both body styles under that LCT threshold to pick up the EV incentive, opens up a new opportunity for us,” Mr Dale said.
“Big business, large enterprises, government fleets transitioning to EVs, that’s a space where this product will be on that list. We haven’t been on [that] list before because we haven’t had the product – so that’s where we’re seeing some opportunity.”
“In terms of production, we’ve announced globally that we have a second production facility and that’s due to global demand, but also expansion into global markets – right-hand drive markets like ours included,” Mr Dale continued.
“The beauty about the products we’re launching is it’s the latest updated products [with] faster DC charging, better performance, higher power output. It gives us the freshest product line-up for Q4 to hit the market from day one in Australia.”
Due to land sometime during the first half of 2024, the new Audi Q4 e-tron will be offered with two drivetrain variants and two body styles. Pricing will start from $88,300 before on-road costs for the single-motor 45 e-tron models, and $108,500-$109,500 for the 55 e-tron quattro versions.
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Overseas models shown
The single-motor RWD 45 e-tron is powered by a 210kW/545Nm electric motor driving the rear axle, a new permanently excited unit that was recently introduced as part of a recent rolling update across several of the VW Group’s MEB electric vehicles. Audi quotes a 0-100km/h time of a hot hatch-like 6.7 seconds.
Stepping up to the Q4 and Q4 Sportback 55 e-tron quattro adds a second e-motor on the front axle, which boosts system outputs to 250kW and 679Nm. Zero to 100km/h is cut to 5.4s in the quattro versions.
All models for Australia get a 77kWh (net) li-ion battery pack (82kW gross), though Australian energy consumption and range figures are still subject to homologation. The Q4 e-tron recently had its charging capacity increased as part of the aforementioned rolling changes, with the 45 e-tron capable of up to 135kW using a DC fast charger and the 55 e-tron models quoting up to 175kW.
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