Audi A3 e-tron (2014 – 2020) Review

For some drivers, the Audi A3 e-tron will a the better mix of options than a pure EV or fossil fuel-only car. There are some downsides - so-so handling, smaller boot, tyre noise - but the Audi A3 e-tron makes for a sound used hybrid choice and has the appeal of the Audi badge. To find out more, read our full Audi A3 e-tron review.

The 2014 Audi A3 e-tron was Audi's first plug-in hybrid in the UK market. It sat at the top of the premium hatchback tree, owing largely to its very effective blend of perceived build quality, low running costs, useful practicality and gimmick-free styling.

The Audi A3 Sportback e-tron built on this base to produce a car with all that, plus the sort of claimed fuel economy and CO2 emissions to appease a Just Stop Oil protester. That concoction made the Audi A3 e-tron a leader in its (admittedly small) corner of the market when it arrived.

As a plug-in hybrid, rather than the 'self-charging' type favoured by the like of the Lexus CT200 or Toyota Prius at the time, the Audi A3 e-tron could cover up to 31 miles on battery power alone. This was achieved using the same hybrid set-up as the contemporary Volkswagen e-Golf.

That frugality was in ideal conditions at lower speeds, though the e-tron could also drive at motorway pace using just electricity. As a result, Audi said this A3 was capable of 176.6mpg if you made the most of charging opportunities and didn't indulge in the fun offered by its 204PS and 0-62mph in 7.6 seconds.

Plenty of company drivers were tempted into the Audi A3 e-tron thanks to its tax benefits, while private buyers were also seduced by hefty EV grants from the government.

None of those apply now the Audi A3 e-tron is a used car, but road tax is free for the e-tron and running costs will still be low for those who can charge the car easily and rely mostly on its EV power.

Unlike the rest of the Audi A3 range, the e-tron was only offered as a five-door Sportback and with one trim level.

It dishes up a lot of equipment, including 17-inch alloy wheels, MMI HDD-based navigation with seven-inch touch screen, 10GB flash music storage, DAB radio, two-zone climate control, front sports seats, LED headlights, rear LED lights and plenty more.

The Audi A3 e-tron never feels anywhere near being a hot hatch, whatever the performance figures might suggest. It’s quick, yes, but it also has an unyielding ride quality – the sort of which a Honda Civic Type-R driver might feel at home with, but it’s not what you’d expect of a modern Audi. It’s just annoyingly stiff.

Let’s not be too harsh – this quality is the scourge of this particular drivetrain in general because the heavy rear-mounted battery necessitates stiffening up the suspension – but there’s no doubt that the Audi A3 e-tron is unacceptably jiggly at times. This is one of two areas that Audi’s engineers couldn’t quite iron out.

The other is amplified tyre noise in EV mode, though again this is a problem with most of these cars. In every other way, this A3 is as easy and refined as you’d expect a top-end hatchback to be.

The plug-in hybrid setup has four driving modes, each altering in some way the relationship between the 75KW (102PS) electric motor and the 150PS 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine. EV mode puts the electric motor in charge by itself, capable of getting the car up to 31 miles at up to 80mph.

That’s a lot of ‘up to’, and although the real electric-only range is probably nearer the low-to-mid twenties, the e-tron can certainly be driven hard and fast using only its battery. The car’s 4.9 second 0-37mph time in electric mode tells you how nippy it feels.

The Audi A3 e-tron has a Sport mode that pairs petrol and electricity in harmony, unleashing that 204PS peak power figure and, more importantly, 330Nm peak torque. In this mode, the Audi A3 e-tron has serious mid-range punch – the sort of punch that Volkswagen believes puts this drivetrain into GTI territory.

Its remaining two modes actively charge the battery, so you get more off-throttle engine braking while all that escaping energy is scavenged and there’s another that retains the battery’s charge.

The Audi A3 e-tron switches between each of these imperceptibly. The only time the car ever feels flat is when the battery itself is flat and thus not available to assist the petrol motor. When this happens, there’s a natural but very obvious drop in performance on full throttle.

This Audi A3 e-tron falls into the same Euro NCAP crash safety score as the rest of the A3 range, which picked up a full five-star rating.

The Audi A3 e-tron comes with autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist as standard, which was advanced stuff when it was launched in 2014. There are also seven airbags and new buyers could add a £500 optional Driver Assistance pack with active lane assist, adaptive cruise control, reversing camera, and traffic sign recognition.

The Audi A3 e-tron can tow an unbraked trailer of up to 750kg and a braked trailer up to 1600kg.

The Audi A3 e-tron is ergonomically spectacular – if ergonomics can ever be that – in the sense that it’s built with enough driving position adjustment for both extremes of the adult size spectrum to get truly comfortable.

However, the real story of the Audi A3 e-tron is how much of the A3 Sportback’s inherent practicality is compromised by packaging up the hybrid drivetrain?

The answer is ‘a little’. Certainly enough for a conventional Audi A3 Sportback owner to notice, but far from taking the car into the realms of being compromised.

The battery is under the rear seat and while there’s no affect on rear leg or headroom, boot capacity suffers. The 280-litre boot loses 100 litres to that of any other Audi A3 Sportback of this era and its maximum (rear bench down) capacity lost the same amount, now at 1120-litres.

The Audi A3 e-tron was only available as a Sportback – there’s no three-door version. As with every other model in the range, the e-tron benefitted from a loading floor that can sit flush with the loading lip, and the rear bench folds flat, making it a convenient companion when on any given day you’re transporting bulky stuff.

We’ve said it before, but the Audi A3 e-tron has one of the best car interiors on sale today, punching way above its class weight. It’s the essence of solid simplicity with a clean, intuitive layout fashioned from plastics so dense that they almost stop being quantifiably plastic and become something else.

Audi’s MMI system, which is standard in all Audi A3 e-trons of this generation, is a joy to use. Intuitively designed, it features clear shortcut and back buttons, plus the rotary control dial can be used as a track pad to write navigation instructions – albeit with the left hand, which for the majority will mean scrawly letters that the car’s brain will often misinterpret.

The seven-inch touchscreen is small by modern standards but still easy to read, and you can hook up your smartphone for a more up-to-date user experience.

The Audi A3 e-tron sold in relatively small numbers as the plug-in hybrid market was of limited appeal when the car was launched. As a result, these cars are in greater demand now and that keeps used prices strong. Expect to pay £11,500 for an older version with 80,000 miles on the clock.

A late Audi A3 e-tron with low miles and in pristine condition from Audi’s approved used scheme will have a price tag somewhere around the £16,000 mark.

Despite it being possible to run an Audi A3 e-tron without ever plugging it in, the running cost benefits will be best felt when it is.

Fast charging the battery from flat takes just over two hours, while a conventional household power supply will almost double that time to three hours and 45 minutes. Neatly, the charging socket is housed under the Audi four rings on the grille.

If you make the most of the electric portion of the Audi A3 e-tron drivetrain, you could in theory achieve the claimed 176.6mpg combined fuel economy. More likely is a figure around 107mpg, which is still mighty impressive for a premium-badged small hatch.

Insurance will be more than many cars of a similar size, but the Audi A3 e-tron’s road tax of £1800 per year shouldn't worry your finances unduly. Servicing is also reasonable for this model, especially if you opt for an independent Audi specialist.

The Audi A3 e-tron was only available as a five-door Sportback and with one trim level. As befitted the price, it came with a lot of equipment, including 17-inch alloy wheels, MMI HDD-based navigation with seven-inch touch screen, 10GB flash music storage, DAB radio, two-zone climate control, front sports seats, LED headlights, and rear LED lights. There was also the option to upgrade to a Bang & Olufsen stereo system.