2027 Audi Q4 e-tron: Audi Drops the Whole Range Under LCT, Quattro Cut $24,250 to $81,650

Image credit: Audi Australia

Audi Australia has done the sharpest bit of pricing work in the luxury EV space this year. The updated 2027 Q4 e-tron opens at $71,650 before on-roads and tops out at $83,250, which means every single variant sits under both the fuel-efficient Luxury Car Tax threshold and the equivalent Fringe Benefits Tax cap for a novated lease. That is a big deal for anyone who was quoted a Q4 55 e-tron quattro last year at $105,900 and found the FBT exemption locked out by a couple of thousand dollars. The saving on the quattro is $24,250 outright.

There is a catch further down the range, and we get into it below. Audi has replaced the old 210kW/82kWh entry with a new 150kW/63kWh entry, so the $13,250 saving at the base of the range comes with a smaller battery and less punch. The quattro keeps the big battery. Whichever way you slice it, the Q4 has moved from the far side of $100k into direct fight with the Tesla Model Y, BMW iX1 xDrive30 and Volvo EX40.

Pricing

Audi has not published a stripped mid-grade to fill the gap between $71,650 and $81,650, so the range is essentially two cars, each in two bodies. Anyone who orders a quattro before 31 December 2026 gets a complimentary six-year, 90,000km service plan from Audi Australia, which the brand is using as a soft push to lock in the H1 2027 delivery slots.

Two Powertrains, One Cheaper Battery

The 150kW car is not the old 45 e-tron with a discount sticker on it. Audi has genuinely re-engineered the entry point: a single rear-mounted motor makes 150kW and 350Nm, and it draws from a smaller 63kWh (59kWh usable) LFP-adjacent pack. The 210kW/82kWh entry Q4 that sat in Australian dealers this year is gone. The 250kW quattro carries over the bigger 82kWh (77kWh usable) NMC battery and gains range, charging speed and a range-topping 5.4 second 0 to 100 claim from the updated dual-motor setup.

Image credit: Audi Australia

Inside: New Panoramic Display, Android Automotive

The interior is the other big change. The old Q4 cabin has been replaced by a driver-oriented panoramic display that pairs an 11.9-inch instrument cluster with a 12.8-inch central MMI touchscreen. The whole thing now runs on Android Automotive OS, which brings native Google Maps, a proper Google Play store for apps like Spotify, and a voice assistant with ChatGPT integration. Wireless Apple CarPlay is still supported for anyone who prefers it.

Standard kit on both grades includes a leather-appointed steering wheel with recuperation paddles, leather seating, three-zone climate, ambient lighting with dynamic interaction lighting, and matrix LED headlights. Audi has also added an optional 12-inch passenger display for the first time in the segment, and an augmented-reality head-up display that projects turn arrows onto the road ahead.

Safety

The Q4 e-tron carries its five-star ANCAP rating from the current generation, tested under the 2023 to 2025 protocol with 89 per cent adult and 89 per cent child occupant scores. Standard driver-assist kit includes AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise, lane keep assist, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, driver attention monitoring, tyre pressure monitoring and eight airbags. Audi's Park Assist Plus and 360-degree camera stay optional on the base grade.

How It Compares

The obvious German rival is the BMW iX1 xDrive30, which lands at $84,900 in Australia for a 230kW dual-motor with 440km WLTP. On the new pricing the Q4 quattro at $81,650 undercuts it by $3,250 and matches it on range, though the iX1 hits harder on the 0 to 100 stopwatch. The Mercedes-Benz EQA is smaller and older, and the new-generation BMW iX3 50 xDrive is a full class up on price. Volvo's EX40 Ultra Single Motor is closer in size but tops out at 476km WLTP and is now more expensive than the base Q4.

The Tesla Model Y RWD at $58,900 before on-roads is still cheaper, and the Long Range AWD at $68,900 undercuts even the base Q4. The Model Y hits back with 466km of WLTP range, 250kW DC charging and a bigger boot. What the Audi answers with is a more resolved cabin, a quieter drivetrain, a proper suite of physical controls and the badge premium that still matters to fleet buyers. See our best electric luxury SUVs guide for the full cross-shop.

Warranty and Servicing

Audi Australia backs the Q4 e-tron with a five-year unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty and an eight-year, 160,000km battery warranty. Anyone who orders a quattro before 31 December 2026 gets a complimentary six-year, 90,000km capped-price service plan on top, which is a fairly aggressive lever to keep production slots filled through the first half of 2027.

The CarSorted Take: Novated Lease Just Became the Story

On CarSorted the outgoing Q4 55 e-tron quattro is listed at $105,900 and the Sportback 55 quattro at $107,500. Both sat above the fuel-efficient LCT threshold, which for 2025-26 sits at $91,387. That single detail knocked the top of the range out of the electric-car FBT exemption on a novated lease, because the ATO uses the same figure. A packaged quattro on 40k a year of salary sacrifice was often cheaper in a Mercedes EQA or a BMW iX1 for that reason alone.

On the new pricing, the quattro Sportback at $83,250 sits about $8,000 under the threshold and the SUV at $81,650 sits about $9,700 under. For a novated-lease buyer in the 47 per cent marginal tax bracket, that is worth roughly $14,000 to $18,000 across a five-year package once GST-free purchase and the pre-tax lease payments compound. That is a much bigger real-world saving than the sticker cut alone suggests. Read our novated lease explainer and our FBT-exempt EV list to see how the numbers stack up. If you are cross-shopping against the BMW iX1 or the Volvo EX40, our /compare tool runs the specs side by side.

What This Means for Buyers

Two very different buyers should notice this update. The first is anyone who was already sold on a Q4 quattro but got beaten by the sums: the $24,250 headline cut plus the FBT exemption makes a $130,000 fleet quote from last year look like a $95,000 driveaway package inclusive of on-roads, insurance and running costs once you salary-package it. That is a bigger swing than any Chinese EV entry this year.

The second is the buyer who was cross-shopping the base 45 e-tron. Audi has cut the entry price by $13,250, but the new 150kW/63kWh car has less power and less battery than the 210kW/82kWh outgoing car. If you actually needed the outgoing 470km range and 210kW punch, you should be looking at the new quattro, not the new base. The base is now aimed at first-time luxury EV buyers who valued the badge more than the specs. For everyone else, the quattro Sportback at $83,250 with 509km WLTP and a real 5.4 second 0 to 100 is the pick of the four.

Orders are open now through Audi Australia dealers, but the wait is real. First customer deliveries are pinned to the first half of 2027, so anyone signing today will not see the car for four to six months at best. If you cannot wait, the outgoing 45 e-tron and 55 e-tron quattro stock in dealers is now the last chance to get the bigger 82kWh entry battery at whatever runout deal your dealer will do. That is the trade-off to weigh this week.

Best Electric Luxury SUVs 2026 | Audi Q4 e-tron Review | FBT-Exempt EV List