Audi plug-in ready to power up

While many of the big advancements in engines in recent years have revolved around various electric and hybrid technology, we in Australia have been more reticent than most to embrace new powerplants.

After all, we've only bought 49 electric cars and 1724 hybrids so far this year and there are many who are still blind to the merits of diesel despite oil burners being far more sophisticated than they once were.

Still, this hasn't stopped Audi from bringing the A3 e-tron plug-in hybrid Down Under early next year.

First unveiled at last year's Geneva Motor Show, the A3 e-tron sees a 1.4-litre four-cylinder TFSI petrol engine paired with a 75kW electric motor situated on the rear axle under the back seats.

Audi hopes the e-tron will overcome any Australian prejudices against plug-in vehicles by its sheer practicality.

The electric motor takes a tick under four hours to charge on a normal power supply and allows for about 50km of electric-only driving. Once the petrol engine kicks in, you've got up to another 890km up your sleeve. This means a lot of people could do their daily work commute without using a lick of petrol.

But Audi has made sure the practicality hasn't come at the expense of the enjoyable driving characteristics that come with a premium brand.

It's not quite the performance car they claim it is - and will use in part to justify its $60,000 or so price tag - but it's still certainly a fun drive.

In electric-only mode you're not left wanting around town in the slightest - with its 330Nm available immediately it is crisp off the line (0-100km/h in 7.6 seconds) and if you really need to get moving it has a boost function which sees the electric and internal combustion engines team to deliver maximum output. It's not a visceral experience but it's not slow.

And once you're up to speed there's little to differentiate it from its other A3 brethren. Driving in the mountains on the outskirts of Vienna, the extra weight of the battery pack meant the e-tron wasn't quite as nimble but you certainly don't feel weighed down and it's still easy to plonk the nose where you want it and stay flat through corners.

The transition between electric and combustion engines is seamless and barely noticeable, while the six-speed S-tronic gearbox does a great job.

The brakes are also a little harder but it's nothing off-putting. Despite the electric motor being under the back seats, comfort in the back was fine.

There are four drive-engine modes: electric only, hybrid auto which combines the electric and internal combustion engine, hybrid hold which uses the ICE and keeps the battery levels as-is, and hybrid charge which uses the petrol engine and braking and coasting to recharge the battery.

Really, this is a city car which is in its element driving under 50km but can be a frugal long-ranger when needed.

It's worth pointing out that that 50km figure isn't a best-case scenario; we got close to the mark even in trying stop-start inner-city conditions.

On our 100km or so route we racked up 4.8L/100km. Now, this included portions where we were asked to test out various drive modes on the car, so it wasn't a pure economy run.

Our overall figure was harmed by a section in sports mode and spending a lot of time trying to recharge the battery.

To get the best results, you need to use all of the battery power and then use the hybrid hold setting, which uses the petrol engine only.

The plug to charge the e-tron is cleverly positioned behind the four rings on the front grille. However it is worth noting the inner-city types who this car is aimed at won't be able to take advantage of it if they have street parking only.

The early adopters who do go for the e-tron will get a lot of kit with their money, with Audi likely to have one or two spec variants available, each loaded with gear to further enhance the premium feel.

Unlike others of its ilk such as the eye-boggling BMW i3, the A3 e-tron is nigh on indistinguishable from the rest of the A3 range, save for a polished chrome grille and e-tron badging.

Many buyers in this segment want everyone to know they've paid extra to help save the planet - we'll have to wait to find out whether the subtlety of the A3 e-tron carries enough of the same appeal.

--

No doubt, the A3 e-tron sounds great in theory: have an enjoyable drive to and from work while using either no or minimal fuel, yet with a petrol engine to serve as back-up to allay any range anxiety.

And yet, the above also can be applied to other cars on the market. It’s too early to judge sales of the first ever plug-in hybrid SUV — the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV — but the Holden Volt is yet to set sales numbers alight since its launch in Australia a couple of years back.

And, with Audi set to push the e-tron as a premium/performance car in Australia with a price tag of about $60,000, it will cost about the same as a Volt.

So why would Audi be confident in bringing the e-tron to Australia? Well, for starters, you’re getting better badge prestige. Theres’s also little concession for it being a hybrid: it still has five seats (the Volt has four), up to 1120 litres of cargo room and — save for some extra chrome here and there — is basically the same as any other A3 but with something different under the bonnet (and rear seats).

“If you’re introducing a new technology, it’s a good mid step for people,” Audi Australia senior product communications executive Shaun Cleary said.

“It looks normal and acts normal.”

Also its 1.4-litre TFSI unit is a ripper and, in the e-tron, it drives like a normal engine when called into action; the Volt’s petrol engine doesn’t actually send power to the wheels — it acts as a generator and powers the batteries, which then handles the power distribution.

But there are still some issues — namely, will Aussies be happy to fork out this much dough? You can get an all-wheel-drive A3 with a 1.8-litre engine which will get you to 100km/h in a brisker 6.8 seconds while using a frugal 6.6L/100km.

It’s also $14,500 cheaper — that’s a lot of fuel you’d need to be saving to make up the difference.

No doubt the e-tron is an idea we can all get behind and this iteration may prove the beginning of something much bigger down the track — Audi will be happy with just 10 sales in Australia per month to start with and plans on introducing e-tron variants across its other models in the future.

But this isn’t quite the slam-dunk move towards greener cars it could be with a lower price tag.