Audi Australia has offered a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Q7 SUV in the past, but the marque’s product team has ruled out a remix in its latest iteration.
Speaking with media at the recent launch of the facelifted Q7 and Q8 range, Audi Australia product head Matthew Dale said the Q7 TFSI e isn’t on the cards for Australia due to the lack of a three-row option.
“The Q7 [PHEV] at the moment is only available with five seats globally. Q7 in Australia is seven seats, that’s why we put as standard,” Mr Dale said.
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“We actually trialled in the last generation – around 2010-2011 – a five-seat variant and the take-up rate of that was less than 5.0 per cent for those customers that wanted big boot space but didn’t need the third row.”
For context, the high-voltage battery for the plug-in hybrid system is packaged under the boot floor, where the sixth and seventh seats are usually positioned in non-hybrid versions of the Q7.
In overseas markets like Europe and the UK, the Q7 comes as standard with five seats with the option of a third row, though the brand has made the latter standard-fit in Australia.
“This is where the Q7 and Q8 family work together well. Some people love the size of the [Q7] – the versatility, the flexibility and the convenience; but they never use the third row,” said Mr Dale.
“We found when we just had the Q7 those customers would just buy a Q7, but now we’ve got the Q8 they migrated to the Q8 because it’s a five seater – [because] it’s still got the same interior space and wheelbase as the Q7,” Mr Dale said.
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Q7 TFSI e shown
Like the related Q8, the Audi Q7 is available with 55 TFSI e and 60 TFSI e PHEV options abroad, both pairing a 3.0 TFSI V6 turbo-petrol engine with an electric motor and large lithium-ion battery.
The second-generation Audi Q7 has previously offered a plug-in hybrid option in Australia, in the form of the Q7 e-tron back in 2017 and 2018. This was before Audi reserved the e-tron name exclusively for pure electric vehicles.
Unlike the current Q7 TFSI e offered overseas, the Q7 e-tron was a diesel PHEV, pairing Audi’s familiar 3.0 TDI V6 turbo-diesel making 190kW/600Nm with a 94kW/350Nm electric motor and 17.3kWh battery pack.
Audi quoted a system power output of 270kW, good for a 0-100km/h time of 6.2 seconds. Perhaps more important were the efficiency figures, with fuel consumption rated at 1.9L/100km, CO2 emissions at 49g/km, and EV driving range of 56 kilometres according to the older NEDC test cycle.
When last offered in Australia in 2018, the Audi Q7 e-tron retailed for $139,900 before on-road costs.
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Audi Q8 range
For those wanting a large Audi SUV with plug-in hybrid power, the facelifted Audi Q8 once again offers a TFSI e variant as a bridge between the core range and the SQ8 performance model.
The facelifted model brings a more powerful 130kW/460Nm electric motor integrated into the eight-speed automatic transmission, as well as a larger 22.0kWh (net) lithium-ion battery pack under the boot floor.
In 60 TFSI e guise, the Q8 PHEV makes a total of 360kW and 700Nm, good for a 5.0-second 0-100km/h dash while quoting a zero-emissions driving range of up to 74km on the WLTP cycle.
Pricing for the 2025 Audi Q8 TFSI e in Australia starts from $154,284 before on-road costs, around $11,800 more than the 55 TFSI which utilises effectively the same 3.0 TFSI V6 without the bigger battery.
