The Audi e-tron Sportback is a stylish sophomore electric car

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  Audi has given its e-tron electric car a fancy new look-this is the Audi e-tron Sportback. [credit: Audi ]

December 2018 marked the arrival of the Audi e-tron, the first in a massive onslaught of post-dieselgate electric vehicles from Volkswagen Group. With brands across VW Group still working on new bespoke EV platforms and architectures, the e-tron was a bit of a stopgap, intended to reach the market quickly to show that upper management was now serious about electrification. Now it has company in the form of the new Audi e-tron Sportback.

Audi says that the e-tron Sportback is for its customers who care about the planet but also about aesthetics-basically you buy this car if the thought of an A7's carbon footprint is unbearable. To my eyes, the design team should consider its work a success. The e-tron Sportback is a more attractive vehicle than either the e-tron SUV or the closely related (but internal combustion engine-powered) Q8. In fact, if you ignore everything below the top of the wheel arches, it's a stunner, particularly the flare of the bodywork around the rear wheel and then that little ducktail spoiler.

Overall, the roofline of the e-tron Sportback is about half an inch (12.7mm) lower than the e-tron, and in US-spec with reflective side-view mirrors it has a drag coefficient of 0.28 (a reduction of 0.02).

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