As a kid growing up in merrie olde England, I experienced the raw power of electricity by inserting my finger into a light socket.
Unlike here in the U.S. where domestic electricity packs a wimpy 110-volt punch, in the U.K. it’s a more substantial, and potentially life-threatening 240 volts.
As you might expect, the jolt of 240 volts on a skinny nine-year-old body, threw me across the room, frizzed every hair on my body, and emptied my lungs of every last gasp of air.
Want to experience the same kind of electrifying, eyeball-crossing, knee-trembling jolt? Take an all-electric Audi RS e-tron GT four-door coupe, and simply stand on the accelerator.
With a quite-massive 637 horsepower at your beck and call, this low-slung projectile can whoosh from standstill to 60 mph in a rock-out-of-a-catapult 3.1 seconds. It’s fast in the same way a bullet exiting the nozzle of a Magnum .44 is fast.
Of course it should be fast on account of it being based closely on Porsche’s all-electric Taycan. The Volkswagen Group owns both Porsche and Audi so it makes sense to swaps parts once in a while. And to be fair, both cars were developed at the same time, though the Taycan was launched first and took the kudos.
But I love the Audi’s design as much as the Taycan’s. See it on the street and the Audi looks breathtaking, with its gorgeous, swoopy roofline, bulging wheel-arches, and mile-long hood. It also has some of the best-looking wheels – 21-inchers in this case – to be fitted to a car.
Three flavors of e-tron GT are up for grabs. The starter version, the Premium Plus GT with 533-hp is priced at $106,500. The slightly fancier Prestige GT will set you back $114,500.
But for the real flood of electrons, you need the fire-cracker RS e-tron GT, to give it its full title, priced at $143,900, or like our test car, $152,440 nicely loaded.
Price-wise it’s in the ballpark with the competition. The Lucid Air Grand Touring kicks off from $140,000, with the RS-comparable Porsche Taycan Turbo stickering for around $163,000. The Tesla Model S Plaid is the cheapie here, starting at around $107,000,
As you might expect, the RS is a technological tour de force. It has electric motors front and rear to deliver all-wheel drive. But what’s unusual here is that, like the Porsche, there’s a two-speed transmission incorporated in the rear axle.
The lower-ratio first gear helps blast the Audi off the line, with the higher second gear providing the more-relaxed cruising speeds. Sounds complex, but it works superbly.
Add to this rear-wheel steering for sharper high-speed handling, and air suspension for a smoother ride. Those humongous brakes can stop time.
On a twisty backroad, the RS is total thrill ride with its astonishing acceleration, laser-precise steering, no-roll cornering, and true poise and balance coupled with a firm, but silky-smooth ride.
Less impressive is the Audi’s range. The RS is rated at just 249 miles, which to me, is about 100 miles too short for peace of mind. A Lucid Air offers over 440 miles while a Tesla Model S Plaid offers around 350 miles.
But plug the Audi into a DC fast-charger and it balances its lowish range with the ability to re-charge its 93 kWh lithium-ion battery pack from 5 to 80 per cent in as fast as 22.5 minutes
Inside the RS is a masterpiece of cool design. Pretty much every surface is slathered in lovely, rich materials. I loved our tester’s honeycomb-quilted leather sports seats and the genuine leather on the dashboard. No fan of leather? Faux suede is an option.
Yes, with that raked, sports coupe roofline, headroom in the back is on the tight side. But clever cut-outs in the floor means there’s decent legroom.
But who needs rear seat space when you have this kind of pure, finger-in-the-light-socket excitement?
