Audi makes a shrewd move with Q5 PHEV

Audi Australia is hoping its first plug-in hybrid will lure buyers to make the switch without committing to an all-electric vehicle.

2023 Audi Q5 55 e plug-in hybrid

As the great philosopher Mick Jagger put it, you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.

What Audi Australia desperately wants is to sell more electric cars, with the German brand selling just 273 examples of its two EVs in the first six months of this year, compared to Tesla’s sales of more than 25,000 with its pair of battery-powered models.

The disparity between the two brands can be at least partially explained by the price difference between their most affordable EVs. The Audi e-tron SUV is priced from $147,400, while Tesla’s Model 3 starts at just $61,300 and the most affordable Model Y from $69,300.

So, what Audi Australia wants is a cheaper EV, specifically the Q4 e-tron small SUV that’s already on sale in other markets around the world, but not here yet.

Instead, the company is having to make do with what it needs and that is the new Q5 55 TFSI e quattro. This is the brand’s first plug-in hybrid and Audi Australia management is hoping it will fill a gap in its line-up and lure in those buyers looking to make the switch to electric driving but who are not ready to fully commit to an all-electric model. Even so, Audi’s decision to introduce a plug-in hybrid EV (or PHEV) is a surprising one, not only because of the timing – as EVs really take off in popularity, but also because PHEVs have deeply split opinions in the car industry.

The interior of the 2023 Audi Q5 55 e plug-in hybrid

For those unfamiliar, a PHEV uses the electric motor as the primary power source to drive the wheels but switches to the internal-combustion engine when the battery is depleted. Ask one car maker and they’ll tell you PHEVs offer the best of both worlds – the emissions-free motoring of an EV with the range and flexibility of a combustion-engined car. But ask a different manufacturer and they’ll tell you plug-ins are a waste of time and energy, constantly carrying around one power source they’re not using.

You can guess which of those two camps Audi falls into, and on paper the company is offering an appealing proposition.

The Q5 PHEV combines a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor and 14.4kWh battery to make a combined output of 270kW of power and 500Nm of torque. That’s a healthy level of performance, especially for a car with a claimed fuel-consumption figure of just 2.0 litres per 100km.

For context, the Q5 45 TFSI quattro, with its 2.0-litre petrol engine alone, makes 183kW and 370Nm and uses 8.0L/100km, so the PHEV can not only offer an efficiency benefit but a performance one, too.

From behind the wheel that rings true.

The exterior of the 2023 Audi Q5 55 e plug-in hybrid

There’s great performance from the Q5 PHEV, with plenty of response from low in the rev range as the electric motor helps the petrol engine, and if you keep your foot down the turbocharged engine comes into its own. Installing this powertrain in the Q5 was a shrewd move, though, as it’s one of the brand’s best-selling models and one of the most popular mid-size luxury SUVs in the country.

In fact, in the sales race this year it’s only behind the new Lexus NX and, you guessed it, the Tesla Model Y.

This is clearly a size of SUV luxury buyers are attracted to, and it’s easy to understand why. It’s spacious enough for a family without being bulky and difficult to live with around the city.

How much time you spend driving around in city conditions will really measure how appropriate the Q5 PHEV is for you. If you’re going to commute like a typical Australian, or around 30km a day, and you then recharge your batteries regularly, you can save a fortune (particularly if you have solar panels). But once you drive beyond the 55km range of the batteries the benefits of the plug-in hybrid system fall away. Once the battery has used up its charge, the car uses the petrol engine to both drive the wheels and charge the batteries, and that leads to higher fuel consumption.

For maximum benefit, you’ll need to keep your Q5 recharged every night and try to limit driving to that 55km mark. Which, for many buyers, is probably achievable most weeks of the year. And if you want to take a longer road trip, you can do that too; you’ll just need to pay for the petrol you use.

Whether or not that’s enough of a temptation to lure buyers away from a Tesla remains to be seen, but Audi will be hoping that’s what people need for now.