Auditions, auditions and more auditions, the quest for a drama school place for the boy continues with a vengeance and once again has the family heading far away from home.
Destination this time? Reading, in Berkshire, to dump the car, then a train into London, for the first audition, then back to Reading, before driving across to Cardiff.
So that’s 252 miles, then 108. Let’s hope we aren’t in an electric car, then…oh!
When I check the diary my heart sinks as we are going to be in an EV. Darn it!
When the Audi A6 e-tron arrives the first thing I check is the range.
It’s not quite charged to the max but the range-o-metre is reading 287. Hmmm? Not too bad.
First job is to drive it around locally for a couple of days to get a feel for how quickly that range plummets.
But it’s hardly moving at all and the consumption figure is reading 6.0 miles/kWh. That’s the equivalent of 200 miles per gallon; interesting.
Next job is to top up the charge – well that didn’t take long – and 100 per cent is now giving me a reading of 345 miles. Nice.
So when we head off to Reading it is with a light heart and even lighter throttle foot with no need to worry about charging.
Driving down I realise it might be better to top up on the first leg of the journey, that way I can get to Cardiff without having to charge again and still leave plenty of range in the tank for the collection driver.
Here’s a tip. Don’t try and use the woeful network of motorway service stations.
You’ll struggle to get on a charger and even if you manage you will pay more for the zap and the coffee while you wait.
We head for Leamington Spa, find a decent shopping outlet on the outskirts, have a choice of empty highspeed chargers and pay less for the coffee and the Danish – and it was only four miles from the M6, a detour which took considerably less time than queuing at the services.
Topped up and ready for more, it’s time to appreciate the e-tron’s many other merits.
It has been a very pleasant journey so far, easy on the senses, because the A6 Avant (estate) is supremely capable and comfortable.
Ride is superb, the lack of NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) marked and the cabin ambience utterly cosseting.
The ergonomics are perfect, the technology easy to comprehend and use and the feel-good factor of being in an 80K Audi is sky-high.
On top of that it has extra toys, though, strangely, manually operated front seats, not electric.
The sound system is Bang & Olufsen – wow, get the show tunes blasting and it’s like being in an auditorium – and it has a huge glass roof with a difference.
Press the roof-lining mounted switch forward and the glass is clear, pull it back and it goes translucent chunk by chunk.
Press the switch in and it alternates between clear and frosted. I could play with this all day.
A6 e-tron has the looks, the image, the toys and it’s also brilliant to drive.
The electric motor offers 380PS power and 565Nm torque which translates into instantaneous wallop.
It’s breath-taking the way it offers a sporty side to a supreme cruiser and another reason why it’s the star of the show.
Factfile
| Motor: 270kW electric |
| Power: 380PS, 565Nm torque |
| 0-62mph: 5.4 secs |
| Top speed: 130mph |
| Transmission: automatic |
| EV range: 430 miles |
| Consumption: 4.0 miles/kWh (equivalent to 135 miles per gallon) |
| CO2 g/km: 0 |
| Price: £80,455, plus £6,345 optional extras |
