High-performance electric sedan lands in Singapore starting at S$489k with COE, RS model is the most powerful road-going Audi ever

SINGAPORE

Audi Singapore tonight launched its new flagship car, the E-Tron GT, at a virtual event in Singapore – you can view them both on YouTube and Facebook. CarBuyer’s own Leow Ju-Len also makes a special appearance, although he hardly needs to explain why a 646hp car that looks this way tickles the cockles of his heart.

With that power output, the RS version of the E-Tron GT is officially Audi’s most powerful and quickest-accelerating production car to date. 

We’ve covered the E-Tron GT in detail in our story on the international announcement of the car, including the model breakdown, technology on-board and more.

There are two models on sale in Singapore – the regular E-Tron GT at S$489,000 with COE, and the high-performance RS E-Tron GT at S$620,000 with COE. 

Here we also have our first idea of how far the E-Tron GTs can go. Above are the official homologation figures for the cars’ energy consumption in Singapore, and strangely the RS E-Tron is a tiny bit more efficient than the normal car. Predicted range for both cars is almost 500km.

The car comes as a five-seater, although it’s aimed more at ferrying four people around in comfort. Despite Audi’s love of the Sportback (aka swoopy, stylish hatchbacks like the A7 Sportback) body style, the E-Tron GT actually has a conventional sedan-style boot rather than a liftback, and it can pack 350-litres of cargo, and an 81-litre front trunk. Not super spacious, but you wouldn’t buy this car to carry stuff around in, you’d get an E-Tron SUV or E-Tron Sportback SUV for that. 

E-Tron GT owners won’t be waiting around too long for a charge, at least in the future. With the same 800V battery/motor tech as the Porsche Taycan, the cars are capable of a maximum DC fast charge rate of 270kW, which means 80 percent charge in just 22 minutes, and can add 100km of range in only five minutes. The drawback is that there aren’t 270kW fast chargers in Singapore yet, the fastest are only 100kW, and the most common are 50kW. The latter will take around two hours to top up the E-Tron GT.

Two options for charging are given to buyers: A home wallbox charger and six months of free charging at SP Group public chargers, or no wallbox and 18 months of free SP charging. The fastest rate for AC ‘regular’ charging is 11kW, which should deliver a full charge in around nine hours. Audi has also set up a 120kW fast charger for owners – that could get you to 80 percent in less than an hour for sure.

The interior is familiar, with Audi’s pared down, almost brutalist interior style with lots of clean edges and geometric shapes. There’s a bit more of the monoposto feel, as befitting a GT, and sport seats to keep things exciting. 

More electric sedans on the way: BMW’s first M-ified electric car, the i4 M50 (left), and Merc’s E-Class-sized EQE

The E-Tron GT has a healthy list of equipment: Audi’s new MMI touchscreen system, 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit display, panoramic sunroof, head-up display, and wireless charging for smartphones. Optional equipment highlights include adaptive air suspension at S$7,373, carbonfibre roof at S$18,433, and more handling performance with a rear differential lock + air suspension at S$14,746.

The RS model has similar dimensions to the regular car, and indeed it looks very similar, unlike say, the difference between a Q3 and an RS Q3. Ways to tell it apart include black mirror housings, RS badge and larger 21-inch wheels as standard, compared to 20-inches on the normal car.

It also has, as standard, carbide-coated higher performance brakes with red calipers, adaptive air suspension, and fancier lighting: Matrix LEDs with laser high beams and full LED taillight bar with a cool animation sequence. Optional equipment highlights for the RS include all-wheel steering (S$8,061), ceramic brakes (S$27,529), a carbon exterior pack (S$21,138).

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