Our cars
Feeling the cold
The spell of colder weather proved a useful test bed for our Audi E-Tron and a few niggles did surface as the mercury dropped.
Martyn Collins
I was pleased when reader Glen Foster responded to a report post via X (formerly Twitter) recently. He’s just taken delivery of an E-Tron GT, and after my moan about the rear camera, told me there is in fact a camera washer, that can be operated in the reverse view, by pressing the three dots symbol in the left-hand corner.
After pressing this, out spurted enough screen wash to clean the previously milky lens – more importantly, it saves me having to wipe the lens every trip. I should have known it would, as last year’s Cupra Born long-termer had a similar set-up. I should have checked the owner’s manual in the first place! Then again, I’m sure this would have been covered in a proper Audi handover. Another thing I should have done as soon as the E-Tron GT was delivered, was to hook up the Audi app. After setting it up before my long trip north last month, I noticed a lot of the E-Tron GT’s equipment had annoyingly reset itself. They were generally only little things so far, like the wing mirrors folding in and out when the car is unlocked and locked, and stopping the radio from broadcasting every travel bulletin. However, odder, was when it took the decision to only charge to 90% – although this was quickly changed in the app, and we’re back to 100% charges.
A good thing too, as despite the efficiency improving to 2.5 miles/kWh, two weeks of freezing conditions have hit the E-Tron’s range hard. Previously solid at 240 miles, this dropped as low as 180 miles when we went past freezing, and have only recovered slightly to 200 miles, now temperatures are in the positive. One niggle that has resulted thanks to this reduced range, is that I’ve run this Audi’s battery lower than I’d like. The result is that the E-Tron GT takes much
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Audi E-Tron GT Quattro 350kW
P11D price £86,795 As tested £93,050 Official range 298 miles Our average consumption 2.5 miles/kWh Mileage 2,850
longer to charge on my 7kW charger – almost 12-and-a-half hours to be precise! This has almost caught me out, as despite starting the charging at 11pm when my cheaper electricity rate kicks in, when I checked the app first thing the following morning, it was telling me the Audi needed at least another three hours to get to 100%! I had to get to Milton Keynes for a launch that day, but thankfully, the 180-mile range it did have, was more than enough for the trip. If it hadn’t
been, I would have faced having to find a charger en route.
Cold weather is a good test to see how a car performs, and apart from the drop in range, the E-Tron GT gave me no real issues. In fact, via the Audi app, I was able to set the heating inside, so when I came to take my son to school, all the windows were defrosted and all I had to do was click on the heated seats to warm us up. There was no issue, but then you must remind yourself this is an expensive car and it’s expected!
Something that hasn’t stopped, despite the cold weather, is how much fun this Audi is to drive. There have been some small grip issues with the low-profile Pirelli rubber when cold, but other than that, the E-Tron GT has been driven no differently to any other long-termer.
Every trip is an event, even within the national speed limit.
I can’t quite believe that the next March issue will include the last report on this car. I feel like we’ve been on a bit of a journey with E-Tron GT ownership. Starting with admiration of what it is and what it can do. Then the reality of whether this Audi can really be used every day. Now I’ve enjoyed long drives, where its GT credentials have excelled, it must go back to Audi, and I will be sad.
Standard equipment on the e-Tron GT: Power and heated door mirrors, three-zone climate control, alarm, convenience key, MMI Navigation Plus, leather trim, 20in wheels.
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