Comfortably quick.
The Audi e-tron 55 is an all-electric luxury SUV that’s meant to get you where you want to go in comfort. That’s especially true if you’ve ticked the box for the Prestige trim level that adds, among other things, massaging seats, thicker, sound-deadening glass, and $13,200 to its already premium price tag.
But this portrait is only partially true. It’s also deceptively fast. With 402 horsepower and a staggering 490 pound-feet of torque on tap, one might think to oneself, “Of course it’s quick.” But, it also weighs a lot. Like, 5,754 pounds a lot.
So, despite having gobs of go-power, the e-tron scoots from a stop to sixty miles an hour in a moderate 5.5 seconds. While that was a great time 20 years ago, it puts it near the back of the electric SUV pack in 2020. Still, as Kyle Conner demonstrates in the One Lap video above, initial acceleration isn’t everything when it comes to recording a respectable time on the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR) track.
Leaving the start line in sport mode with all the traction control nannies turned off, the German dual-motor AWD beast is relatively tame. Heading into the first turn, the car’s considerable weight makes itself known but, importantly, it doesn’t slow it down.
The body roll one might expect just doesn’t materialize, thanks to the battery bulk being low in the vehicle. With front and rear tires having the same width and, therefore, the same pavement contact patch, excessive understeer doesn’t rear its speed-inhibiting head. The overall balance of the chassis is great.
The deceptive nature of its performance reveals itself in the final lap time. The Audi e-tron 55 deserves a gold star, turning in a very respectable 1:52. According to the growing One Lap database, it did the deed just a hair slower than the Tesla Model X Performance (Raven). Outstanding!
If you haven’t done so yet, tap play on the video up top and see what so many are missing when evaluating this all-electric German SUV. Enjoy!
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