AR tech, digital screens dominate interior of Audi Q4 e-Tron

Audi’s all-electric e-Tron is downsizing – but it’s packing in plenty of tech in the process.

The German car maker has released more details about the technology explosion heading to the new Q4 e-Tron that is set to become the most affordable model in the e-Tron stables.

Slotting below the mid-sized e-Tron, the Q4 e-Tron has a smaller footprint and dimensionally sits between the Audi Q3 and Q5. It is built from the ground up as an electric vehicle and sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB modular electric platform, which also underpins the Skoda Enyaq iV and Volkswagen ID.4. That allows clever packaging of the electric motors and batteries rather than shoehorning them into the design of a petrol vehicle.

That means more interior space, with Audi claiming the five-seater has space akin to a “large full-size class SUV”.

But it’s the tech within the Q4 e-Tron set to define the latest addition to the Audi electric family, a car expected in Australia late in 2022.

One of the highlights of the Q4 that will sit below the plain old Audi e-Tron is an augmented reality head-up display.

The optional AR display places warnings and instructions in a virtual space 10 or more metres in front of the car and aligned with what the driver can see.

For example, it can superimpose a navigation direction over the precise piece of road – be it a corner or freeway exit – so the driver knows exactly where to turn.

The AR head-up display also has a static section that appears about three metres ahead of the driver and contains information such as the speedo readout and any applicable traffic signs, including the speed limit.

The AR display includes a picture generation unit buried behind the digital instrument cluster.

A bright LCD beams light onto two mirrors before projecting them towards the windscreen and into the driver’s line of sight.

The goal is to have critical information blended into the natural settings that the driver is already looking at, making them more accessible, requiring less time looking at the instrument cluster and providing less chance for confusion.

Behind the scenes are some 600,000 lines of computer code that updates the display frames 60 times every second.

In monitoring where to display the image the vehicle uses data from the forward facing radar and camera as well as the GPS navigation system.

It even has a “shake compensation” designed to steady the virtual image display.

Elsewhere within the Q4 e-Tron’s cabin is a multitude of lights, displays and touch pads, including those on the new steering wheel.

With flattened top and bottoms surfaces, the wheel features active lighting behind its buttons show the driver knows which one has been pressed. And as well as push functionality the button touchpads have swipe functionality inspired by smartphones.

As with other features on the Q4 e-Tron, it’s tech that will weave its way across others in the Audi lineup.

Of course, there’s no traditional instrument cluster in the Q4 e-Tron, Audi instead employing a 10.25-inch customisable digital display.

And the central infotainment screen is up to 11.6 inches in diameter, the largest fitted to any Audi.

Elsewhere, the Q4 e-Tron’s interior borrows plenty of themes from the latest generation Audis – including the larger e-Tron – but adds to it with more modern finishes and materials.

As well as traditional leather and a modern take on wood, the Q4 e-Tron will be offered with a “technical hybrid fabric” for the inlays of the S-Line versions.

There’s also Dinamica, which looks like suede but is made from natural materials and recycled PET bottles.

No word on how much the Q4 e-Tron will cost, but Audi says it will offer “an entry into the world of electric premium mobility at an attractive price”.

There will also be a sleeker Sportback variant of the Q4 e-Tron, as previewed as a production-close concept in 2020.