2024 Audi Q4 55 E-Tron First Drive: Big mid-year changes yield zesty EV

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. — The Audi Q4 E-Tron doesn’t seem to get the attention it probably deserves. Perhaps because it looks so much like other small Audi crossovers, it blends into the crowd and is falsely assumed to be like the Mercedes EQB – the electric version of an ICE car. It isn’t. The Q4 E-Tron is built on a dedicated electric platform (dubbed MEB, it’s shared with the ID.4 and other electric Volkswagens), and benefits as a result. Its unique, high-quality, space-efficient interior boasts a big back seat for its size and lots of clever storage. The driving experience is also just as refined as you’d expect from an Audi.

At least that was our take, but apparently, there was enough demand for immediate improvement that the 2024 Audi Q4 E-Tron sees an unusual mid-model-year update addressing a number of key mechanical areas. And no, apparently it isn’t a 2024.5 model year.

A new rear motor (a permanently excited synchronous machine one to be exact) is optimized for greater thermal management and therefore efficiency, resulting in a total system output increase of 40 horsepower over the old Q4 50 E-Tron (the rear-drive Q4 40 E-Tron gets none of the updates about to be described and remains unchanged at 201 hp). The rechristened Q4 55 E-Tron now produces 335 hp and hits 60 mph in 5 seconds flat. That’s 0.8 seconds quicker than before.

But, wow, does it feel quicker than that, as Audi has tuned the throttle to thwack you with torque at the slightest touch of your right foot. It’s most noticeable in Auto and Dynamic modes, but even with the slightest bit of initial throttle mush in Comfort mode, it springs to life with the eagerness of a terrier that just spotted a squirrel. Pull out of the pre-school parking lot, BAM. Light goes green at the on-ramp, BUH-BYE. Yet, it ultimately reminds me of the VR6-powered 2000 Jetta I once owned. I recall reading a review of it at the time that said engineers clearly tuned the throttle to make the torquey engine feel more powerful than it was, as once you got out of that initial hit, the power band proved not to be as robust as it initially seemed.

That’s just meant as an observation rather than a criticism. I’d much rather drive