Audi E-Tron road test in Motor Trend

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PackardV8

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Messages
152
Anyone else read this road test in the March 2019 Motor Trend?

I'm prepared to agree and accept the Audi E-Tron will be a very good BESUV, but then for $75,000, it should be.

My problem is with the biased and really slanted opinions; Angus Mackenzie goes on for most of two pages praising Audi's integration of regeneration and the brake pedal and how it's next generation technology. The real clue is where he flacks for Audi Product Development Engineer Andrew Carter Balkcom, quoting him as saying, "One-pedal mode was a crutch for early BEVs to keep you from using the hydraulic brakes." Mackenzie then says, "Audi's electrohydraulic braking system is a game changer, a benchmark for BEV brake systems."

I'd argue, with some logic on my side, that still having to move one's right foot from the go pedal to the whoa pedal is the crutch. Yes, Angus, it might make the initial introduction to a BEV less confusing for troglodytes who really would rather be driving a last century Buick, but for most who understand and appreciate what a BEV can do, one-pedal is the best single feature of the Bolt; the benchmark and the game changer.

jack vines
 
PackardV8 said:
The real clue is where he flacks for Audi Product Development Engineer Andrew Carter Balkcom, quoting him as saying, "One-pedal mode was a crutch for early BEVs to keep you from using the hydraulic brakes."
This is a clear indication that he's either (a) completely clueless about why one-pedal mode is so great, or (b) spinning fake news in a lame attempt to excuse the lack of a really desirable feature.
 
What is difficult to understand is the Audi E-Tron has one-pedal capability, but they choose to downplay that as if it were a liability.
You can dial in low and high regen settings if you wish; the latter allows the E-Tron to be driven with one pedal like a Tesla or a Jaguar I-Pace in similar modes. But unless you desperately want to feel like you're driving an electric car, don't bother.
Sorry, Angus; maybe Audi paid for your vacation in Abu Dhabi, the food and drinks, but you/they just don't get how and why some of us love new/better operational dynamics BEVs bring to urban driving. If you/Audi thinks it's necessary to sell the future by going on how the E-Tron can be driven two-pedal just like an old Buick, that's OK - lame, but OK.

However, it's just not necessary to disparage one-pedal and its benefits. How could that help sell the E-Tron to those of us who really love the one-pedal?

jack vines
 
PackardV8 said:
What is difficult to understand is the Audi E-Tron has one-pedal capability, but they choose to downplay that as if it were a liability.
You can dial in low and high regen settings if you wish; the latter allows the E-Tron to be driven with one pedal like a Tesla or a Jaguar I-Pace in similar modes. But unless you desperately want to feel like you're driving an electric car, don't bother.
I haven't driven one, but my understanding is that the Tesla doesn't have a "true" one-pedal mode like the Bolt - you have to use the hydraulic brakes to bleed off the last few MPH of speed. Perhaps the E-Tron is the same?
 
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