Audi e-tron 55 2021 Review

Are buyers willing to pay more for electric vehicles if those EVs also pack a lot of comfort and convenience features, enhanced styling details, and the promise of stronger performance and dynamics, capped off with a prestige badge?

All of that is available in the 2021 Audi e-tron 55 quattro – a vehicle priced at $146,100 plus on-road costs, and equipped with a list of standard ‘extras’ as long as your arm.

This particular test vehicle was a ‘First Edition’ model, and the one and only option was the lovely Galaxy Blue metallic paint, adding $2300 to the total.

While steeper than the price of either the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 (from $141,400) or the entry-level Audi e-tron 50 (from $137,100) we compared late last year, there’s some compensation in the First Edition pack.

This includes 21-inch alloy wheels in a five-spoke ‘turbine’ design, orange brake callipers, black exterior styling cues, camera-based virtual exterior mirrors, Matrix LED headlights, privacy glass, puddle lights and a 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen 3D audio system.

In addition, the First Edition model also features four-zone climate control with a separate touch-screen for the rear seat passengers, a head-up display (HUD), an S line interior pack, extended leather upholstery and an ambient lighting package.

The S line pack comprises Valcona leather, back-lit aluminium door sills, multifunction sports steering wheel with shift paddles and exclusive floor mats with contrast stitching.

Owners can select any of 30 different colours in six profiles from the ambient lighting package.

As well as the prestige paint option, a panoramic glass sunroof adds $3400.

The standard e-tron 55 quattro has none of the items listed above, but you can see the sort of options available to push up its specification – and price.

As standard, the 55 rides on 20-inch alloys. LED headlights in this grade are not the Matrix type, but do feature auto high beam assist.

Similarly, the First Edition’s front sports seats are not present in the standard e-tron 55 quattro, which makes do with standard seats. In lieu of the 16-speaker B&O audio, the e-tron 55 gets by with just 10 speakers. There’s no HUD here either, and just two zones for the climate control system.

Service intervals are limited to 24 months or 30,000km, whichever comes first, and the standard warranty is three years/unlimited kilometres.

At some point, the convenience of the excellent auto-dipping Matrix headlights (an option as part of the Premium plus pack) and tyre pressure monitoring cross over into safety territory, and the 2021 Audi e-tron 55 quattro is chockers with features like that, as well as technology that is there to save your life, whether it’s convenient or not.

Standard safety features fitted to the e-tron 55 quattro include eight airbags – among that number two side-impact airbags for the rear seat passengers as well as the side curtain airbags – plus driver fatigue monitoring.

Driver assist features that play a role in active safety comprise 360-degree camera vision, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) that can detect pedestrians and cyclists from 5-85km/h, rear crash mitigation, collision avoidance assistance, rear cross traffic assist, intersection assist, exit warning system, turn assist, rain-sensing wipers and auto on/off headlights.

Tested by Euro NCAP in 2019, the e-tron was rated five stars for crash safety, garnering 91 per cent for adult occupant safety, 88 per cent for child safety, 71 per cent for pedestrian safety and 78 per cent for safety assist.

Local crash safety authority ANCAP has adopted Euro NCAP’s rating for the e-tron.

The 2021 Audi e-tron 55 quattro delivers better performance than its entry-level sibling, the e-tron 50 quattro, but is otherwise very similar. Both vehicles drive through all four wheels and feature an electric motor for each axle.

Like the more affordable e-tron, the 55 quattro is extremely quiet on the move, but with Audi’s trademark EV motor noise under acceleration. And what acceleration. Plant the foot from standstill and the e-tron 55 quattro will just about inflict whiplash.

Nevertheless, the Audi can’t match the Mercedes-Benz EQC for power-to-weight ratio, and the difference is quite stark – at 120kW per tonne for the Benz with 300kW output, versus 97.4kW per tonne for the e-tron, also with 300kW. Nevertheless Audi buyers will not be disappointed with the performance.

Over the course of the week the test vehicle was typically operating at an efficiency level of 26.0kWh, which doesn’t compare favourably with compact EVs such as the Hyundai Kona Electric, but is practically on par with the smaller and lighter EQC in our comparison (25.8kWh).

On a test run at night, the e-tron’s ‘distance to empty’ started out at 233km on a full battery, but at the conclusion of the 70km drive was still showing 199km of range available. We’re tipping that range anxiety won’t be a major concern for e-tron owners.

After driving the e-tron 50 quattro previously, I knew where to look for the recharge cable in the 55 quattro. As fast as the e-tron is when recharging from a 350kW fast-charger, charging from a 10-Amp power outlet is quite a protracted affair – charging the e-tron from 69 per cent to full capacity was going to require 19 hours and 17 minutes parked in the garage.

Still, it’s not a significant inconvenience to unplug the e-tron for a short trip down to the shops – provided the battery isn’t fully drained.

While it’s not in the same league as the Jaguar I-PACE, the 2021 Audi e-tron 55 quattro delivers consistent handling and quite secure roadholding.

And it feels demonstrably quicker through the twisty bits than the Mercedes-Benz EQC does.

Keep the power applied in a bend and the Audi’s stability control will start to interfere, but it’s not that domineering, and it certainly lets the driver have some fun accelerating out of hairpins. It’s like being catapulted out of a slingshot.

The available torque does test the Goodyear Eagle 265/45R21 tyres on this First Edition model, but they cling to the road with only a little wailing to give away the pressure applied.

When it’s time to wash off speed, the brakes are very strong and the pedal feel is laudable, particularly for an electric vehicle.

The ride quality in Comfort mode is close to exceptional on country roads and over heavier bumps and potholes. Even in the suspension’s Dynamic setting the ride is acceptably good, with just a little impact harshness felt through the sidewalls of the tyres. All of this is to the credit of the e-tron’s adaptive air suspension.

In the cabin, the sports seats on our tester – upholstered in Valcona leather, rather than the Milano leather of the 50 quattro – are comfortable and snug, holding the occupant in place at higher cornering speeds, but I did need to adjust the powered lumbar support after about an hour on the road.

The First Edition comes with Audi’s ‘Virtual exterior mirrors’ – a camera-based system rather than conventional door mirrors. For first-time drivers, the cameras and the display each side (on the door card just forward of the door handle) are certainly challenging if you’re in the habit of using mirrors to back, as I am.

And the Audi’s privacy glass makes it harder to reverse the e-tron into a driveway at night if you give up using the cameras and turn your to head to look over your shoulder instead.

The resolution of the camera display is not great at night either, but there are pros as well as cons.

There’s no adjustment for the ‘mirror’ display, for instance, because it’s not necessary; the camera displays the same wide-angle view wherever your seat is positioned. The camera does it all for you, with the display surround flashing yellow if a car is occupying what would normally be your blind spot.

When reversing the camera also tilts down to pick up the gutter, but objects such as gates look disproportionately large in the display, compared with a mirror in just one focal length.

So I think it’s clever technology, but it would take a while for me to become accustomed to using it.

If we had compared this version of the Audi e-tron against the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400, the already-close contest would have been closer still.

In fact, the Audi might have won, notwithstanding the fact that the e-tron in this fully-loaded First Edition specification costs something like $19,000 more than the Mercedes.

As explained in that comparison, the e-tron in any specification offers functionality and driving dynamics the EQC can’t top.

It’s the warranty and the performance that principally handed the EQC the win – and the advantage the Mercedes enjoys is somewhat diminished by the extra urge in the e-tron 55 quattro, plus the free servicing and battery charging Audi offers all e-tron owners.

As much as I enjoyed my time in the First Edition, I wouldn’t personally opt for a 55 quattro with all the options ticked.

By all means pay the extra $9000 for the higher performance, but not an extra $13,000 on top of that for the sunroof (which is always a controversial choice) and the 21-inch alloys over the 20-inch standard wheels – despite the apparent extra grip that wheel and tyre combination provides.

On the other hand, that optional paint colour is worth every cent, likewise the Matrix headlights. And while the virtual exterior mirrors are an acquired taste – and expensive to replace if you clout them, as I was told by an Audi service adviser – they should not be discounted out of hand.

In short, the 2021 Audi e-tron 55 quattro is a terrific package, but whether all the options are worth the extra is a question only individual buyers can answer.

How much does the 2021 Audi e-tron 55 quattro cost?
Price: $146,100 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Two asynchronous electric motors
Output: 300kW/664Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 95kWh lithium-ion
Range: 438km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 24.2kWh/100km (ADR), 26.0kWh/100km (as tested)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)