Audi Q4, Mercedes EQB and BMW iX1 in a comparison test

In the April 20 issue, the colleagues from “Auto Bild” had three German compact-class electric SUVs competing against each other. Audi Q4 50 e-tron Quattro, Mercedes EQB 350 4Matic and BMW iX1 xDrive30 were sent to the race. The cheapest car emerged as the winner from the three.

When it comes to system performance, all three models are close (215 to 230 kW), and when it comes to top speed, Mercedes is behind the other two competitors by 20 km/h at 160 km/h. All test vehicles have all-wheel drive. In terms of dimensions, the EQB is the largest at 4.68 meters – ahead of the Q4 at 4.59 meters and the iX1 at 4.50 meters.

Additional spending of up to 38 percent

Thanks to the larger battery (net), the Audi has the longest range (76.6 kWh, 502 km), the Mercedes has 66.5 kWh and 410 km, the BMW 64.7 kWh and 430 km. In terms of WLTP consumption, the BMW with 17.3 kWh is ahead slightly Audi with 17.5 kWh, followed by Mercedes with 18.7 kWh. However, this also has a low charging capacity of 100 kW, while BMW and Audi promise 130 and 135 kW respectively.

The Auto-Bild test produced different consumption values, with the iX1 showing the smallest deviation of 31 percent and the Q4 showing the largest deviation of 38 percent. The determined range was between 300 (Mercedes) and 395 kilometers (Audi).

Auto Bild: “A Deserving Winner”

Overall, Auto Bild was evaluated in seven categories. Mercedes won the “Body” and “Connected Vehicle” categories. BMW, on the other hand, came top in “Comfort”, “Drive”, “Driving Dynamics” and “Environment”. Audi and BMW iX1, which won the comparison with 583 out of a possible 800 test points, shared the victory in the “Cost” category. The Audi Q4 managed to take second place with 572 points, while the Mercedes EQB took third place with 561 points. The rivals are very close.

Auto Bild writes about the “deserved victory” of the Munich native: “Not only is it a more modern and powerful car, it’s also more affordable.” The assessed prices of the test cars were 63,130 euros for the BMW, 65,060 euros for the Audi and 66,218 euros for the Mercedes. Handling and driving pleasure were better with BMW than with rivals. Testers praised the Mercedes’ safety features, saying that the Audi Q4 was “work well‘ and received the best suspension score of the three cars.

Source: Auto Bild (April 20, 2023, pages 22 to 29) – “Excitement among leading electricians”