 2013 Audi Q5 Hybrid. Click image to enlarge |
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Review and photos by Jil McIntosh
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2013 Audi Q5 Hybrid
Mallorca, Spain – I remember driving the first hybrids that were available in Canada. They whirred and clunked, they wandered all over the road, and I still remember how incredible it felt when, at what seemed like only a touch faster than walking speed, I was able to coax Toyota’s Prius into moving forward on electricity. Running on battery alone: it was amazing!
How far we’ve come in such a relatively short period of time: we now have hybrids like Audi’s upcoming Q5 version, which will run solely on its battery at 60 km/h for up to three kilometres, and when you are already cruising along, can run on electric power at speeds of up to 100 km/h. It sacrifices no luggage or cabin space for the sake of its lithium power pack, and most importantly, it retains the tight handling and impressive driving dynamics of the conventional Q5 compact SUV upon which it is based.
It won’t go on sale in Canada until next year, and there is still information to come, but Audi has confirmed that it will be sold in a single, fully-loaded trim level and will probably come in around $55,000. That’s about $10,000 more than the 2011 price of the four-cylinder Q5 with a Premium Plus package. While they’re supposed to be primarily about saving fuel and lowering emissions, hybrids are still a status symbol to some extent: you have to drive a lot of kilometres, and gasoline has to be a substantial price, before the savings at the pump outpace the extra price of the vehicle.
 2013 Audi Q5 Hybrid. Click image to enlarge |
The Q5 Hybrid will be sold in markets worldwide. Audi has chosen to outfit it with the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that it introduced in the Q5 to Canada for 2011. Worldwide, the gasoline 2.0 engine accounts for about 30 per cent of all Q5 sales. While a diesel-electric may seem a more logical choice in overseas markets, the company has gone with petrol for practicality. The Q5 Hybrid will be a low-volume vehicle – an Audi representative said that the company expects to sell about 450 a year in Canada – and it makes the most sense to use an engine that is available in all markets. It means the company will spend the least amount of money creating a vehicle that it can sell in Europe and also send virtually unchanged to the potentially lucrative U.S. market.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. The 2.0 TFSI, as it’s known, is a remarkable little engine: gutsy and smooth, and putting out 211 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque in the conventional Q5 available now. When hooked to its hybrid driveline, the combination is able to provide a brief boost of up to 245 horsepower and 354 lb.-ft. of torque, and with a zero-to-100 km/h acceleration time of 7.1 seconds.
 2013 Audi Q5 Hybrid. Click image to enlarge |
The hybrid system was developed in-house, and Audi said it’s the step between gasoline-only and the electrified vehicles that began with the concept E-Tron and which will eventually come to market for consumers. Just as every automaker offers a variety of models, it’s expected that many will also offer a variety of propulsion systems: petroleum-only for the budget-conscious, electric-only for those who primarily travel within their vehicles’ charge range, and hybrids to bridge the gap between the two.
The sole transmission choice is an eight-speed automatic with manual shift mode, integrated with the electric motor which takes the place of the torque converter. Audi’s signature Quattro all-wheel drive is standard equipment. The continuously variable transmission (CVT), once the ubiquitous unit for hybrids, seldom provides sufficient driving dynamics for sportier models, and automakers are going back to these conventional gearboxes for their performance-oriented hybrids. Already in use with the conventional 2.0-litre Q5, the eight-speed is equally at home here, swapping cogs smoothly and discreetly. Even on a mountain road with hairpin turns and quick elevation changes, which can often cause a transmission to temporarily lose its way and hunt for the right gear, the Q5’s gearbox never stumbled.
