The new Audi Q3 becomes a PHEV with 120km range but no indicator stalks
The Audi Q3 has returned for a third generation, bringing a fresh design and a quite radical interior operational change.
One of the German car maker’s best-selling models – having sold more than two million globally since its 2011 launch – the crossover will arrive in September priced from roughly 45,000 euros (£38,300).
While sporting a much-changed new design compared to the previous model, one of its most interesting changes comes inside, where traditional control stalks have been replaced with a new solid block with buttons.
What Audi refers to as its ‘steering wheel control unit’ houses everything from drive selection and light functions to windscreen wiper operations and even the indicators. All are operated by physical buttons and the panel ends do not, like a stalk, move.
If customer feedback is positive on the new control unit, it will likely be rolled out across the rest of the range. Audi isn’t the first car maker to try and reinvent operational stalks, the most notable being Tesla which, with the facelifted Model 3, did away with them altogether, moving indicators to touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel - something, after feedback, it reversed with the updated Model Y.
What’s more, removing the previous model’s gear lever has freed up space in the centre console for a pair of cup holders and a wireless charging pad. Elsewhere, the Q3’s cabin gains a new 12.8inch infotainment screen and 11.9inch instrument cluster.
The new Q3 arrives with a fresh exterior design which is a big departure from the more rounded second-generation car it replaces.
The crossover borrows much of its lighting signatures from the new A6 Avant: at the front it uses its slimmed LED lights, and at the rear the same light bar and rear light designs. The Q3’s rear badge is, like most new VW Group cars, also illuminated.
Again based on the same MQB platform as the Audi A3 and VW Golf, the new Q3 opens with the 112kW (150hp) four cylinder mild-hybrid and is topped by a 200kW (268hp) plug-in hybrid with 120km (75 miles) of engine-off range, double that of the car it replaces. With that top spec powertrain, the Q3 is priced from roughly 50,000 euros (£45,800).
The Q3 is also offered with a 148hp diesel which, alongside the new A6, will be some of the final Audis to offer the fuel option. Expect further additions to the lineup, including 2.0-litre petrols and more powerful diesels to join shortly.
What remains unclear is the future of the hot RS Q3 variant. The previous generation used the Audi RS3’s 300kW (400hp) turbo five-pot, but Autocar understands that engine will soon be retired (in part down to increasingly stringent emission regulations) and Audi is increasingly pushing towards EVs.
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