Electric cars, even part-electric ones like this, are usually sanctimonious with their tree-hugging credentials, but not so this one. At a glance, nothing is new at all.
But delve beneath the surface and underneath is a clever petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain that combines the cheap energy of plug-in tech with the ability to recharge on the move.
You can use it the way that suits you best, travelling up to 50km on electric power only. And it’s an Audi A3, so you won’t need to explain it to your neighbours. They won’t even know it’s a hybrid unless you tell them.
The e-tron is based on the A3 Sportback Sport (would Sir like some extra sport with that?) trim with a few added goodies like LED headlights and sat-nav, so it looks expensive without getting your neighbours’ backs up.
Inside, the four passenger doors interior space is good for five, and luggage capacity is the same as a Quattro four-wheel-driven A3, which is to say 100 litres down on the basic A3 Sportback and technically only 29 litres more than a Volkswagen Up.
It’s broad rather than deep, though, and turns out to be plenty practical enough. Cupholders, a central storage bin and a fuzz-lined glovebox are handy to have.
The e-tron is quick enough in a straight line but along winding mountain roads it’s about as dynamic as an elderly goldfish, especially before you take control of the six-speed S-tronic automatic gearbox yourself. But weekend blasts are not what it’s designed for.
In town it absolutely excels. It’s so unerringly quiet and smooth in electric-only mode, while the three further drivetrain modes do their respective — very different — jobs impeccably.
Crucially, the standard everyday hybrid mode does brilliantly well at using the electric motor as much as possible, saving the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol back-up for fast getaways and topping up battery charge.
As far as pricing is concerned, it is very much in the sort of ballpark that buyers looking for a top-end A3 would happily pay.
For that money you don’t get any special performance or an S badge, but you do get Audi’s best everyday A3.
It’s that good. If an A3 is on your shopping list, this is the one that could reduce your weekday fuel bills to practically zip.
If we could all afford one as our daily driver, we’d all want one. Half the journalists on the launch had requested long-term test cars by lunchtime.
The A3 has found thousands of buyers across a statistics-mocking range of demographics.
It’s pretty clear that any buyer who wants premium quality, a near-silent cabin around town and much lower fuel bills should look no further.
