The Audi A3 E-Tron Makes Me Wish That Every Car Was A Hybrid: Have I Gone Mad?

‘I’ve fallen in love with hybrids.’ While you might be tempted to skip the next few hundred words and take straight to the comments to insult me, I urge you to read exactly why this Audi A3 e-tron has me pining over the enemy.

First, an introduction to the car, and the reason I’m sitting here staring solemnly out the window of a sixth floor restaurant questioning just how I came to the point where I wished hybrids ruled the world.

Despite its futuristic name, this car should be very familiar to you. Look past the obnoxious ‘e-tron’ stickers slapped on its side, and to all intents and purposes this is just another A3.

Under the bonnet lies a 1.4-litre TFSI four-cylinder petrol engine making 148bhp. That’s mated to a 101bhp electric motor via a clutch, and integrated into a specially-modified version of the S tronic transmission. The electric motor can be fully charged via a standard electrical outlet in four hours, or just over two hours at a wallbox or public charge point. All in all, the A3 e-tron has a combined average system power output of 201bhp and 258lb ft of torque.

The interior is typically Audi, with high quality materials evident throughout. But there are a few little hints that this is not your average, garden variety A3. The first hint is in the dials. The traditional rev counter has been replaced with a power reserve dial - much like in the Rolls-Royce Phantom - which relays the percentage of available energy being exerted at any given point.

There are three sections marked out: ‘Efficiency’ covers the first 30 per cent, and indicates you’re driving in an ozone-friendly manner. ‘Boost’ is where I spent a lot of my time, and sits above 100 per cent, indicating that you have both the engine and motor engaged with your foot to the floor, while ‘Charge’ indicates that recovery systems are scavenging discarded energy to recharge the battery.

On top of this, you also have four driving modes: ‘Hybrid Auto’ tries to use the electric motor to help the engine out whenever possible. ‘Hybrid Hold’ tries not to use the electric motor, preserving its charge as much as possible, and ‘Hybrid Charge’ uses engine braking as an additional means of charging the battery (the other modes only recharge the battery while you’re braking).

And then there’s EV mode. So often derided as the murderer of automotive enjoyment, driving on electric in town is my new favourite thing in the world. In a Prius it’s quite nice, but you have that hideous CVT transmission and cheap interior with its thin, fragile plastics that distract from the silent pleasantries.

In the A3 you have none of that; it’s still plush and comfortable, and in electric mode you silently and pleasantly glide around town. I’m all for the raucous engine note of an unhinged race car for the road, but for the 99 per cent of the time you’ll spend cruising around town, EV mode makes your world a better place. Seriously.

And the driving dynamics aren’t ruined by the introduction of a heavy battery. The A3 is not a performance car by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve seen the way the new age of hypercars has embraced electric motors to provide ballistic performance, and on an (extremely) watered down scale, that’s what’s happening here. To have 201bhp in what is ostensibly an economy car is amazing.

Keen to big up EV mode, our test route ended in Newcastle’s busy city centre. But in between our hotel and that gridlock were some of the finest roads I’ve ever had the plasure of driving. The Pennines, which stood between us and our destination, are a gorgeous range of mountainous moorland, with tarmac snaking its way across the formidable landscape.

As we travelled north east from the village of Stanhope, traffic disappeared and a freshly paved road opened up before us; long sweepers, varied cambers and tight hairpins all thrown in. Time to see if that electric motor has hiked the power at the expense of thrilling driving dynamics.

At 1540kg, the ‘e-tron’ has naturally put on a bit of weight over an equivalent diesel model. But you don’t really notice it. The A3 hasn’t been designed as a driver’s car, so it’s hardly lithe and nimble on these tight tracks, but the battery has been placed low down beneath the rear seats to aid weight distribution and keep the centre of gravity low.

The steering is incredibly light, but turn in is quick and, like a big-boned guy holding in his stomach, the A3 e-tron hides its weight well. There’s a bit of roll as the weight nudges over to the outside wheels, but normal understeer levels haven’t been exacerbated thanks to the extra weight being further back.

The S tronic gearbox is its typical brilliant self. With the backup of an electric motor when you put your foot down it properly punches you out of corners. The gearbox has been tuned for economy, so there is a minor hesitancy to commit to Beast mode - sorry, Boost mode - but when that kickdown occurs, the surge is impressive.

What’s not so great is the engine noise. In EV mode, the lack of anything more than a faint whizz is calming, but when you’re gunning it, the engine sounds gruff and synthetic.

But let’s be honest, this A3 is all about economy, and here’s where you might be surprised. According to Audi’s official stats, the car is capable of a whopping 176mpg. With me at the wheel, however, I didn’t manage anywhere near that figure, hitting an average of only 33mpg. Needless to say, when I told one Audi representative, his jaw nearly hit the floor…

So let’s recap on exactly why hybrids can be such an attractive prospect, even to petrolheads. The short answer? Because they offer a level of compromise between performance and efficiency you could never have imagined just a few years ago.

EV mode is a commuter’s dream, offering silent, easy and relaxing motoring through the worst traffic a city could offer. The electric motor helps the engine to provide improved economy by taking the load off when needed, and the combination of electric motor and internal combustion engine provides a hefty kick of acceleration, as demonstrated in the latest hypercars (though obviously on a much more extreme scale there).

There are a few negatives. First of all, that 33mpg figure. I’d like to run the car for a week to see if I can get anywhere near the claimed 176mpg figure. We were driving on incredible roads, so I was naturally spending a lot of time driving in a spirited fashion, but such a low figure is quite shocking.

Secondly, the price you pay as an early adopter is quite steep: £29,950 - and that’s with the UK government’s £5000 plug-in vehicle grant. That’s about £100 more expensive than the most expensive, top-of-the-range diesel you can buy. On the flip side, the e-tron is faster, more economical and will be cheaper to run than the diesel in the long run.

If you’re thinking about getting a diesel, the decision just got a lot easier. If you can afford the initial outlay, get the e-tron. Not only is it more economical, running costs will be reduced (especially in towns where you can run in EV mode and where you don’t pay London Congestion Charge), and petrol costs less per litre than diesel (in the UK at least).

We can’t wait to see this technology applied in a sporting platform - TT e-tron, anyone?