AUDI SQ8 E-TRON SPORTBACK

Four-up, luggage-laden, long-haul drives reveal its true colours

- STEVE CROPLEY

As it breaks through the 11,000-mile barrier, a mileage amassed in a matter of months, the SQ8 E-tron has spent recent weeks specialising in what it does best: longer-distance motorway journeys. Twice recently it has taken a rapid, one-stop day return journey from my home in Gloucestershire to Rye in East Sussex, 340 miles in all.

I say longer trips rather than just plain long, because despite promises of a 290-mile range, the big Audi is only reliable to 220-230, and that's when you're fairly careful to save power in elementary ways, by avoiding acceleration up long hills and never cruising (as everyone else seems to do) 10-20mph beyond the legal limit.  Still, these two seaside trips have added quite a bit to the store of my practical EV knowledge.