Audi E-Tron Gt vs Mercedes-Benz Eqv300

What's the difference?

It can be easy to dismiss electric cars as an imperfect solution to the world’s problems. But that would be missing one big point - they’re really, really fast.

Carmakers twigged that not everyone was enamoured with the environmental credentials of electric vehicles (EVs), especially luxury brands, and thus pivoted to the new sales tacit of performance and prestige.

Which is why Audi’s current performance flagship vehicle is not a mid-engined V10-powered replacement for the R8, but rather the all-electric RS e-tron GT. And for the new model year they have not only updated the range, bringing (you guessed it) more power, but also added a new hero model - the RS e-tron GT Performance.

It leads a new three-pronged line-up for the four rings brand, with the RS e-tron GT Performance sitting above the RS e-tron GT and the new S e-tron GT; the latter effectively replacing the previous ‘entry-grade’ model known only as the e-tron GT.

These arrive as part of a mid-life update for the model, with some minor styling tweaks (inside and out) along with enhancements to the battery and changes to the specifications.

The new range has just arrived in Australia and Audi will be hoping it can turn around the sales performance, which saw the outgoing e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT find just 84 customers in 2024. That was a decline of 75 per cent on 2023 sales, and nearly 200 less than the closely related Porsche Taycan.

As far as vehicle niches go, this is pretty niche. The Mercedes-Benz EQV is Australia’s first premium electric seven-seat commercial vehicle-based people mover.

The EQV falls under Benz’s electric ‘EQ’ banner and is based on the Vito van platform, but adapted to house an all-electric powertrain. 

However, unlike the popular EQA small SUV or recently launched EQB, don’t expect to see too many EQVs on the roads.

It is likely to appeal to airport transfer operators, hotels and other corporate customers that need to ferry multiple people around in comfort.

But given the kilometres those airport limo drivers can clock up in a day, is an EV capable of doing the job? And will these buyers be happy to fork out more than $150,000 for the privilege?