Audi has already established itself in the SUV market, but the e-tron moves the game on and is a convincing step into the next-generation. Thanks to an electric drivetrain, the e-tron is more refined, more comfortable and more practical than the equivalent Q5. The styling might be plain to some and it does little to allay reservations that electric cars are too expensive, but doing without the weirdness of some rivals might prove to be a clever way of appealing to those still on the fence about EV ownership. Audi has always had a knack for marketing. Whether making motorsport links to an iconic Quattro rally car, or simply leaving the glorious V10 howl of an Audi R8 Performance do the talking itself, it knows how to make people want its cars. However, the company is going to have to change its tune over the coming years as it gears up to deliver a full size range of fully-electric options. The Audi e-tron is the first car in the brand's electric offensive, but rather than Audi ‘going electric’, the firm proudly heralds that ‘electric has gone Audi’. So, as we test it in the UK for the first time, is it the game-changer it claims to be?

That brawny feeling continues out on the road. This is a big, heavy car - weighing the best part of two and a half tonnes - which brings with it good and bad points. One of the e-tron’s greatest strengths is comfort: equipped with adaptive air suspension as standard, it manages to glide along even pretty dreadful surfaces with little fuss. It’s exceptionally quiet, too, with barely a whisper of road and wind noise. Admittedly our car featured optional acoustic side windows (£525), but this is an extremely relaxing SUV, regardless. 24 The electric motors help here, delivering very little whine, even under the sort of hard acceleration that delivers a 5.7-second 0-62mph time in overboost mode. If anything, it’s the way that it delivers the performance that’s most impressive: there’s no waiting around for a gearbox to make its mind up before pulling out of a junction in a hurry, and while the throttle response isn’t quite Tesla-sharp, it’s more lively and linear than a combustion-powered Audi SUV. Fast though it is, it definitely isn’t sporty. It weighs the best part of two-and-a-half tonnes, and if it really feels it through the corners. Much of that mass is mounted low, so stability is never in question; it’s just not to keen to change direction in a hurry. The steering’s gearing is fairly slow too. While it’s relaxing to twist, it doesn’t help disguise the heft.