Audi A4 vs Tesla Model S

What's the difference?

VS
Audi A4
Audi A4

$31,888 - $49,969

2021 price

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model S

2017 price

Summary

2021 Audi A4
2017 Tesla Model S
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Diesel Turbo, 2.0L

Not Applicable, 0.0L
Fuel Type
Diesel

Electric
Fuel Efficiency
5.2L/100km (combined)

0.0L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Space-saver tyre
  • Short warranty
  • Paying extra for driver-assist tech

  • Sadly, it's not a sports car
  • It's a lot of money
  • Lack of convenient charging
2021 Audi A4 Summary

The Audi A4 allroad is the off-roader of the A4 line-up. I’m using the term ‘off-roader’ loosely here because this wagon is obviously best suited to daily duties in a city and suburbs, with perhaps an occasional foray into very light off-roading, i.e. driving on a well-maintained gravel or dirt road with few, if any, corrugations, and in dry weather only. 

But that’s not a negative factor because the great thing about adventures is that they can be scaled to suit you, your lifestyle and your vehicle of choice.

However, is this allroad your best option for a comfortable, nice-driving all-rounder? Read on.

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2017 Tesla Model S Summary

If you have even a passing interest in the Tesla Model S, you'll have seen the endless internet videos where someone has lined up a Ferrari, Lamborghini, or another fast exotic car you could name, to race against it.

There's a long build-up, usually involving men who can't operate a baseball cap, a drag strip and idiotic words in the headline like "destroys" or "rips", or whatever. There's usually a bunch of honking bros with bad haircuts watching on, already planning their next viral video where they set a perfectly good mobile phone on fire.

It's facile and idiotic and doesn't give you any real clue as to the depth of whatever supercar it has "humiliated" or, just as importantly, the depth of the Model S and its spectacular engineering.

So, I won't be spending the next thousand words building up to the conclusion that the Model S P100D with Ludicrous Mode is up there with the world's fastest production cars from 0-100km/h, because I'll tell you now that it is, and it does it in a claimed 2.7 seconds.

Now that's out of the way, there's quite a bit more to the Model S than a "broken" Nissan GT-R owner weeping into their bento box.

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Deep dive comparison

2021 Audi A4 2017 Tesla Model S

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