Julian Kirk takes delivery of his new Audi e-tron GT quattro 350kW long-termer.

Our new Audi e-tron GT quattro 350kW long-termer

P11d (BiK): £85,185 (2%)Range: 296 miles (claimed) Test consumption (kWh/100km): 20.5 (claimed)

Report 1:

There was a momentous week in the Kirk household recently – the arrival of a smart new Audi e-tron GT long termer coincided with the slightly less exciting installation of a home smart meter. I was warned to hide the smart meter away in case I became fixated on watching the pounds notch up every hour – and I was told the arrival of an electric car would only make things worse.

However, the exact opposite is true. Yes, the electric bill surges when the Audi is recharging, but for around £30 I’m getting a full battery that gives me pretty much a week’s worth of driving.

This has led me to reflect on the rate of progress being made in electric vehicles – in February 2022 my previous long-term test Audi e-tron (the SUV one) had a claimed range of 192 miles. Fast forward to today and the newly-delivered e-tron GT has a claimed range of nearly 300 miles.

But it’s not just the claimed figures which are impressive; the real-world returns are equally good. The old e-tron would do around 130 miles on a full charge, whereas early experience with the GT shows a viable range of 250 miles in everyday driving. That’s surely enough to satisfy the nay-sayers who continue to think an EV can’t cut it in regular business motoring.

Early impressions of the car are good. Its looks ensure it stands out in the car park, while the performance on offer is breath-taking (0-62mph acceleration in just over four seconds and instant, surging acceleration whenever you press the accelerator).

Our car is the cheapest way to drive an e-tron GT, although at £85,000 it really isn’t cheap. On top of that price tag, Audi has added a few optional extras – metallic blue paint at £950, a sound generator at £500, heated three spoke steering wheel for £190, a Tour Pack which bundles in technology such as adaptive cruise control and emergency assist for £1,355, and finally upgraded 20-inch alloy wheels at £300.

All-in, that takes the price of this car to just over £90,500… it will be interesting to see if the driving and ownership experience justifies the premium price tag.