Premium 4dr All-Wheel Drive quattro Sportback
2021 Audi e-tron

Audi’s post-Dieselgate electrification push gains a second prong for 2021 in the form of the E-Tron Sportback. If you couldn’t tell from the name alone, the Audi E-Tron Sportback expands the company’s new electric crossover into the sporty, slope-backed crossover space. As is typically the case with these crossover off-shoots, the Sportback shares its underpinnings with the old-fashioned (can we even call it that yet?) Audi E-Tron, which now benefits from the same tweaked powertrain that was announced with the Sportback’s unveiling, comprising a 95-kWh battery pack and dual (front/rear) electric motors producing a total of 355 horsepower and 414 pound-feet of torque. Those figures increase to 402 hp and 490 lb-ft in the E-Tron’s “Boost Mode,” which can propel the midsize crossover to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds. That’s plenty quick for a conventional car in this segment, and not bad for its weight, but it’s not exactly eye-opening performance for a modern EV. But we digress. Choosing between the E-Tron SUV and Sportback comes down to style, and to our eyes, the latter actually has the edge. This would make it the rare exception in a world of sawed-off SUV “coupes” that often end up looking about as awkward as their positions suggest while compromising the very practicality that makes them attractive in the first place. Audi, at least, seems to know how to make a fastback style crossover that doesn’t look like a cynical attempt to fill a narrow niche. It looks like an A5 Sportback with a lift and some cladding. One could do far worse. Inside, the Sportback is all Audi. Indeed, apart from its center console and unique gear selector, you’d be forgiven for mistaking the E-Tron for an A6, Q8 or half the other cars in Audi's lineup. As an added bonus, the mount that houses the unique, thumb-activated gear selector doubles as a cushion for your wrist when you operate the lower control screen. This is actually an upgrade over what you’ll find in Audi’s gasoline-powered models, where you run the risk of nudging the shifter if you’re using it as a wrist rest. Kudos to Audi on that detail. This business-as-usual interior theme speaks to the fact that Audi has fully embraced the proliferation of touchscreens and other touch-based surfaces with its latest round of cars and SUVs. Audi doesn’t really put the E-Tron’s all-electric identity front and center. Rather than plastering the interior and touchscreen menus with green (though they’d probably be blue, because that’s the European way) elements or animated foliage, Audi has skinned every element of the E-Tron in such a way that if you didn’t know what it was underneath, you’d remain clueless until getting underway. To test the E-Tron's capability as an EV, our 60-mile loop consisted of several miles of high-speed Interstate, suburban surface streets and rural back roads. We set off with the dash showing 212 miles of available range after we set up our individual profiles for the Sportback’s drive mode and driver …
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