Audi Australia has rejigged the Q8 e-tron lineup, which now includes base 50 e-tron quattro and high-performance SQ8 e-tron variants – all are available now. The range now starts from $140,600 before on-road costs for the 2024 Audi Q8 50 e-tron quattro, which now takes the place of the previous Q8 55 e-tron quattro, reducing the price of entry by over $14,000 in the process. In the switch from 55 to 50, the Q8 e-tron gets a slightly less powerful dual-motor electric drive system and also debuts a smaller battery for Australia – it makes 250kW/664Nm (versus 300kW/664Nm), and sports a 95kWh (gross) battery pack compared to the 55’s larger 114kWh unit.
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. The smaller battery also features a nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) chemistry, while the larger unit is of the nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) variety. It also sees quoted WLTP combined range drop to 411 kilometres in the base model, whereas the Sportback 55 offers 454 kilometres of claimed driving range on a full charge.
You can still get the Q8 Sportback as a 55 e-tron quattro, which retains its $166,600 before on-roads sticker. The more powerful tri-motor SQ8 e-tron (from $173,600) and SQ8 Sportback e-tron (from $180,600) have officially landed and join the range, too. The range comprises four distinct varaints.
Prices exclude on-road costs The Q8 e-tron retains the pre-facelift model’s five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on 2019 Euro NCA.
