USED BUYER'S GUIDE Audi CQ4 e-tron Mk1

FROM £20,000 Well equipped electric family SUV is terrific value as a second-hand buy

- Richard Dredge

IT'S well over a decade since electric cars started to enter the mainstream, but when the original Nissan Leaf arrived in 2011, few guessed that an electric vehicle would become the default purchase for many car buyers. Designed from the outset as an EV, the Leaf showed the way, yet many manufacturers were still converting ICE cars to electric power until recently.

Take Audi, whose first EV, the e-tron (later renamed the Q8 e-tron) was a converted ICE model. That car came out in 2019, by which time Audi had a brand spanking new EV platform, and it was this that underpinned the Q4 e-tron. It was the German auto maker's first model designed from the outset as an EV and it's all the better for it.

HISTORY

WE got our first glimpse of the Q4 e-tron in concept form at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019; the production car was launched two years later and the first customer cars were delivered in July 2021. At first, only an SUV was offered, but from October 2021 a Sportback was also available, with a more rakish coupé-style rear end. There were three models: the 168bhp 35 e-tron used a 55kWh battery, while the 201bhp 40 e-tron and the 295bhp 50 e-tron quattro had an 82kWh battery. A facelift in September 2023 brought recalibrated suspension, extra standard equipment, more efficient motors and a wider choice of optional driver-assistance systems.

WHICH SHOULD I BUY?