Audi Q8 E-tron lineup gains spearhead with SQ8 E-tron

LOS ANGELES — The Audi SQ8 E-tron is not part of the German luxury brand's esteemed RS family of vehicles, but the high-powered battery-electric vehicle touts design and performance upgrades that may make it the next best thing.

Anthony Garbis, senior manager of product planning at Audi of America, said the SQ8 E-tron can be considered the spearhead of the Q8 E-tron family but would still be slotted beneath the E-tron GT and RS E-tron GT sportback sedans in terms of power.

"We wanted to make a performance BEV SUV, which is exactly where the SQ8 E-tron fits in," Garbis told Automotive News at a media event in Santa Monica, Calif., this month.

The 2024 SQ8 E-tron and SQ8 Sportback E-tron joined the Q8 E-tron lineup, rebranded from the E-tron, and went on sale this month.

Power comes from three motors, which produce 496 hp and 718 pound-feet of torque, up significantly from the Q8 E-tron's 402 hp and 490 pound-feet of torque.

The EPA-estimated range is 253 miles for both the SQ8 E-tron and SQ8 Sportback E-tron.

The SQ8 E-tron's widebody design adds 1.5 inches of width via fender flares, which are ventilated at the front for functionality. Garbis said the widebody design is typically reserved for RS models.

"It really is one of the most aggressive S vehicles that we've done," he said, adding that there will not be an RS version of the latest-generation Q8 E-tron.

The SQ8 E-tron starts at $90,995 while the SQ8 Sportback E-tron starts at $93,795. Both prices include shipping.

Audi says it has sold 3,527 Q8 E-trons and 1,189 Q8 Sportback E-trons in the U.S. this year through October.

Garbis said the S models, which typically draw enthusiast-minded customers, will represent a small share of Q8 E-tron volume. The SQ8 E-tron and SQ8 Sportback E-tron are to be built in limited numbers, so much so that the batch of vehicles used by the media to test at the event were being sent to Audi stores rather than the automaker's media fleet.