Here’s What the Updated Audi Q8 e-tron and Sportback Promise

• Audi e-tron and its coupe-shaped Sportback twin receive mid-cycle updates, new names: Audi Q8 e-tron and Q8 Sportback e-tron.

• The Ingolstadt-based automaker has increased the usable battery capacity and aerodynamic efficiency of the two bodystyles, promising gains in range.

• The Audi Q8 e-tron, SQ8 e-tron and their Sportback variants will arrive stateside at the end of April 2023 in the US, with US pricing and official EPA numbers to be revealed closer to market launch.

The Audi e-tron has been around long enough to become a common sight on US roads, having propelled Audi in to the EV age in 2018, arriving years before other competition from Germany. Since its launch Audi has sold globally some 150,000 examples of the e-tron, which were soon joined by other models, now totaling eight.

The luxury SUV and its Sportback sibling are now receiving a midlife update to keep them fresh for another few years, and the first big change is the name of the model itself.

The Audi e-tron will now be known as Q8 e-tron—the name it should have gotten from the start—and the same goes for its Sportback variant, with the performance-flavored models becoming the SQ8 e-tron and SQ8 Sportback e-tron as well.

What's new with this major update?

Ingolstadt has given the model range new front and rear fascias, including a sculpted metallic grille that trades horizontal and vertical lines for an oval crate pattern, while the changes out back are a little more subtle, with a redesigned rear diffuser giving the rear fascia a more integrated appearance.

More than just making small tweaks to the model's exterior appearance, Audi engineers have managed to improve the aerodynamic coefficient of both variants, with the Q8 e-tron going from 0.28 to 0.27 Cd, while its Sportback sibling improved from 0.26 to 0.24. The automaker credits larger wheel spoilers mounted on the underbody, as well as a new self-sealing system in addition to the electric shutters of the active grille itself.

When it comes to the drivetrain, Audi managed to squeeze out more capacity from the two battery options, which include the 89-kWh (net) 95-kWh (gross) battery offered in the Q8 50 e-tron, as well as the 106-kWh (net) 114-kWh (gross) battery that powers the more powerful Q8 55 e-tron and the SQ8 e-tron models.

"Thanks to an adjustment to the battery management system, the battery capacity usable for customers has increased as well," the automaker notes. "At a high-powered charging station, the Audi Q8 50 e-tron reaches a maximum charging performance of 150 kW. With the Q8 55 e-tron and SQ8 e-tron, the maximum charging performance increases to up to 170 kW."

Audi notes that under ideal charging conditions, the larger battery can be juiced up from 10% to 80% in 31 minutes. With an optional 22-kW home wallbox, the charging time is about four hours and 45 minutes for the smaller battery.

Audi has improved the asynchronous motor in the rear axle, giving it 14 coils instead of 12, with the motor now generating a stronger magnetic field for more torque. The gear ratio of the steering system was tweaked as well for a quicker response.