2022 Audi E-Tron S review: Big performance chews through batteries!

When are two motors driving the wheels in an electric car not enough? When it’s the 2022 Audi E-Tron S that has not one, not even two, but three electric motors providing the electron-fed shove.

‘S’ in Audi-speak means ‘sport’, and ‘sport’ in Audi-speak means performance. And with those three motors – one at the front axle and two at the rear – providing a combined 370kW and 973Nm at their boosted maximum, the E-Tron S lives up to that sporty ethos.

Slotting straight into the penthouse of the Audi E-Tron range, the E-Tron S commands a $168,400 price tag before on-road costs and options.

Our test car, a Navarra Blue (a no-cost option) example packing the $9600 Sensory Package, high-gloss black exterior styling pack ($1600), carbon inlays ($1850), and virtual mirrors ($3500), will hit up your bank balance for a drive-away price of $197,728 give or take depending on which state you live in.

That near $200K price tag does bring an impressive list of equipment. Highlights include 21-inch alloy wheels, rain-sensing wipers, LED headlights and tail-lights, four-zone climate control, 30-colour ambient lighting, Valcona leather seat trim, and a 16-speaker B&O sound system.

Externally, the S distinguishes itself from lesser E-Trons in the range with wider wheel arches, lowered suspension, and S body styling including S-specific front and rear bumpers, grille, side sills and a rear spoiler on the tailgate.

The E-Tron range is mercifully simple, just three variants across two body styles – a regular SUV or, for those who like their SUVs to have a more sporting stance, the coupe-like Sportback SUV – priced from around $151,000 drive-away for the entry-level E-Tron 50 and maxing out with the $188,343 drive-away E-Tron S Sportback.

For now, it’s the range-topping wagon that has our interest. Does the 2022 Audi E-Tron S do justice to the brand’s famous and storied ‘S’ badge? Let’s find out.

Anyone familiar with upper-end Audis will feel at home inside the E-Tron S, which adopts the understated yet tech-laden trimmings of the broader Audi line-up.

It certainly feels special inside, with an elegant and austere design language that features little of the electric car gimmickry found elsewhere.

Instead, Valcona leather seats – finished in Rotor Grey – add a light ambience to the otherwise austere cabin. They’re electrically adjustable – with memory function for the driver – as well as heated.

Twin screens take centre stage on the dash and console, one for the E-Tron S’s infotainment and the other for climate and other car functions.

The centre console is dominated by the E-Tron’s drive selector, a design that is at once sleek yet chunky in its execution.

Standard interior equipment highlights include push-button start, four-zone climate control, configurable ambient lighting, a perforated leather heated steering wheel, and leaving you in no doubt about its provenance, a generous helping of embossed and badged ‘S’ branding.

And the glaring feature that smacks you in the electric car face, and not in a good way, are the $3500 optional camera-based wing mirrors.

In short, ticking this box will see Audi delete the E-Tron’s regular door mirrors, featuring reflective glass technology perfected over thousands of years, in favour of rearward-facing cameras – one on each door – that project images into a screen housed below the window line.

The shortcomings are myriad, with space perception, the poor positioning of the screens inside the cabin, and the shallow and narrow field of view at the top of the list. Reverse parking, and even merging into traffic and changing lanes, has never felt more like a blind leap of faith. Save yourself $3500 and go with regular mirrors.

Storage options up front amount to a pair of deep cupholders that are on the edge of being impractical thanks to their depth and positioning, and an additional little cubby for smaller items, while deep door pockets can accommodate bottles. They could use some felt lining or similar, though, the rattling of items contained highlighted by the quieter cabin ambience of an electric vehicle.

There’s an abundance of space in the second row, with room in all key areas, certainly in the outboard seats. Those outboard pews are heated, while separate climate controls keep things nice and cosy back there.

There’s a fold-down armrest hiding a pair of cupholders, that same armrest causing some consternation for anyone sitting in the middle position which, while spacious, is very firm both at back and in the seat. Short trips only.

ISOFIX mounts grace the outboard seats, while pull-up sunshades are a welcome inclusion, especially for those ferrying little ones around.

The electric tailgate – with gesture-control opening – reveals a big cargo area measuring in at a claimed 660L with the second row in use by passengers. That expands to 1725L with the second row stowed away.

Handy items back there mirror that of the broader Audi range, with tie-down points and hooks aplenty to help keep loose items secure. A space-saver spare wheel lives under the floor.

Audi’s infotainment set-up is among the best in the business. Featuring three screens – one for infotainment, one for climate controls, and one for driving data, the system looks great and feels satisfying to use, thanks in part to the haptic feedback provided at each press of a menu item.

The top 10.1-inch touchscreen houses the nerve centre of the E-Tron. It’s equipped with satellite navigation in glorious 3D mapping, digital radio and Audi’s connected services that can provide handy info like weather forecasts and, somewhat redundantly in the E-Tron, current fuel pricing.

A 360-degree-view camera projects crisp images onto the screen in a way the optional door mirror cameras can only dream about.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, but thanks to the current global chip shortage, wireless charging has been deleted for now. That’s reflected in a $481 reduction in the manufacturer’s list price, so at least Audi is passing on the savings, not something every manufacturer is doing. Nice one, Audi. Other deleted items include tyre pressure monitoring (minus $494) and electric steering adjustment (minus $650).

The second, smaller 8.0-inch touchscreen houses the E-Tron’s climate functions as well as menus for some of the car’s other settings. Again, haptic touch feedback offers a nicely tactile user experience, a satisfying click that can be both heard and felt.

Audi’s 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit driver display continues to impress. Configurable in myriad ways, the high-definition screen offers a wealth of information – from simple dials to driving data to sensational 3D-mapped route guidance. And this being an ‘S’, there’s also an S-specific sportier instrument cluster.

Adding to the available information, an excellent head-up display set-up projects critical driving data directly onto the windscreen. And a premium 16-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system, fitted as standard, offers decent sound clarity and feels all the more premium inside that serene cabin.

There is a five-star ANCAP safety rating for the wider Audi E-Tron range. It was awarded in 2019, but it should be noted it specifically excludes E-Tron S variants. However, suggesting the sportier variants of Audi’s electric SUV would perform similarly to non-S models in ANCAP testing isn’t a stretch.

The regular Audi E-Tron scored an excellent 91 per cent in adult occupant protection when tested in 2019. Similarly, child occupant protection was rated at 88 per cent, while vulnerable road users scored 71 per cent. The E-Tron’s safety assist systems earned 78 per cent.

Standard safety technologies bundled into the E-Tron S include autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection (up to 85km/h) and intersection assist (up to 10km/h), adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and traffic jam assist, active lane assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic assist, a 360-degree camera, collision avoidance assist, and safe exit assist that alerts passengers to the presence of vehicles approaching from behind when opening doors.

A suite of eight airbags covers both rows.

At close to $200,000 on the road, the Audi E-Tron plays in a rarefied playground of well-heeled buyers. Rivals from Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche clamour for attention, each plying their electric car trade in a different manner.

The Mercedes-Benz EQC400 Sport at around $160,000 drive-away is more affordable, but it lacks the performance punch of the E-Tron, despite the presence of ‘Sport’ in its name.

If performance is your main key ingredient, then the BMW iX xDrive50 Sport at around $180,000 drive-away before any options is closer to the E-Tron on outright pace, if not matching the Audi’s svelte aesthetic.

The Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo 4 – the ‘wagon’ variant of Stuttgart’s electric sedan – nudges a circa $195,000 drive-away price tag without options and offers similar levels of space, if not performance of the Audi.

Audi covers the E-Tron with its standard five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, while the battery is covered separately under an eight years or 160,000km warranty.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 24 months or 30,000km, whichever occurs first, and are priced at exactly $0 for the first six years, while Audi will also throw in six years of complimentary DC fast-charging through the Chargefox network. Nice.

A regular 11kW AC home charger is also included as standard, while those who prefer faster charging at home can stump an extra $6900 for a faster 22kW wallbox at home.

Prepare for bill shock when it comes to comprehensive insurance, though, a leading provider quoting $6005.63 per annum based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Audi reckons the E-Tron S chews through electrons at the rate of 26kWh per 100km. That’s getting up there in terms of energy consumption, hardly surprising considering its performance chops. Think of the E-Tron S as akin to a V8-powered SUV and that number starts to make sense.

The good news is over our week with the big, heavy (2655kg) electric SUV, encompassing a wide range of driving conditions – from peak-hour traffic to weekend family duties and long stretches of highway running – it returned an indicated 27.3kWh/100km.

With a battery array measuring at a usable 86.5kWh, that translates to a driving range of around 316km from a full tank; a far cry from the 418km Audi claims.

Further, even after charging the E-Tron S to 100 per cent on our 7kW single-phase home wallbox, the Audi was showing 332km of total range. Frankly, a tad disappointing.

And switching off ancillaries like climate control (plus 9km) and seat heating (plus 2km) added some range, but it still wasn't enough to get near the 418km claimed range.

Any Audi wearing an ‘S’ badge comes with a level of expectation, and that's of a performance car that while blisteringly fast, also remains comfortable and manageable.

The Audi E-Tron S manages to fulfil that brief but does so with maturity. There's no neck-snapping EV-like acceleration here. Instead, the E-Tron S piles on speed in a mature yet rapid way.

Three electric motors – one making 150kW at the front axle, and two 132kW motors working independently at the rear – combine for a total output of 320kW (total output isn’t as simple as adding up the constituent parts) or, if in Dynamic boost mode, 370kW. Torque is an impressive 808Nm combined or, again, a prodigious 973Nm in boost mode.

Those are mind-boggling numbers; numbers that don’t quite, however, translate to driving engagement.

That the E-Tron S is quick, really quick, is without question. Audi claims the near-three-tonne SUV can hustle from standstill to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds in regular drive modes, improving to 4.5sec when boost mode is activated. Yes, it’s quick, but it goes about piling on its speed in a more mature manner.

That’s no bad thing, with the neck-snapping g-forces some electric vehicles are known for not to everyone’s taste. Instead, the E-Tron feels like a big, comfortable and rapid SUV.

That comfort is underscored by the E-Tron’s excellent ride on Audi’s adaptive air suspension, which cossets the cabin from all but the biggest road nasties. It’s supremely comfortable on the road, soaking up potholes, road joins and other road rashes with poise.

Various drive modes can alter the suspension’s characteristics – from the suppleness of Comfort to the firmer-edged Dynamic – but it’s never so harsh that you’re left wondering where your fillings have been left behind.

The E-Tron is also surprisingly not exactly agile, but certainly willing to tackle twisting sections of road with a measure of sportiness belying its near 2.7-tonne heft.

That’s largely down to those twin electric motors at the rear, which work independently apportioning torque and power to each wheel, either together or, in situations where more grip is needed, to one side only. Think of those motors like mechanical differentials that apportion torque to the wheels that need it most for grip, and you’d be on the money.

It adds up to a surprisingly adept performance car when faced with the right stretch of road, and one that tries hard to shake off the shackles of its weight, mostly succeeding.

The steering, on the other hand, remains obstinately light, even its heaviest dynamic setting offering little in the way of resistance and thus road feel.

Big brakes front and back do a great job of pulling up the big SUV with nice pedal feel. And the Audi’s regenerative function is a boon around town, recuperating kinetic energy from the electric motors when coasting and decelerating, as well as heat energy from braking to help replenish the battery.

There are three settings with varying degrees of deceleration, but even in its most aggressive setting (controlled manually via the paddle-shifters on the steering wheel), you still need to use the E-Tron’s brakes for the final stop. No single-pedal driving here.

Audi claims its harvesting system is one of the most efficient at recuperating energy, and while anecdotal only, our evidence certainly backs that up.

One particular long stretch behind the wheel, covering 132km over a variety of conditions, used exactly 100km of indicated range, the E-Tron happily feeding charge back into the battery, and thus adding kilometres to the range.

The 2022 Audi E-Tron S is blisteringly quick, handles with alacrity despite the weight penalty imposed by those pesky batteries, and remains a comfortable place to be inside. Filled with cutting-edge technology, even if Audi has trodden a more conventional path when it comes to packaging, there’s enough to sate buyers at this end of the new car spectrum that their money has been well spent.

For the most part.

It’s fair to suggest buyers could rightfully expect more for their circa-$200K spend, certainly in terms of range. Despite a claim of over 400km, our real-world testing regularly saw around 330km of actual driving range from a 100 per cent charge. And its 27.3kWh/100km real-world consumption number is on the high side too.

Still, for anyone who’s made their mind up that an electric Audi performance SUV is for them, the E-Tron S will likely make them happy. It certainly nails the brief of what an S-badged Audi should be.