Audi Q8 E-Tron vs Mercedes-Benz Eqv300

What's the difference?

Things that have had a name change AFTER they’ve become famous…

Okay… there’s Kanye West’s switch to Ye, Twitter’s rebranding to X and now this – the Audi Q8 e-tron.

As the brand’s first production EV, it used to be known simply as Audi e-tron. But that was confusing, because – Porsche Taycan-based GT and RS sports sedans aside ­– every electrified vehicle that the company has made before and since wears e-tron as a suffix.

Beyond new badging, the Q8 e-tron also brings a facelift and improvements underneath, to better challenge the BMW iX, Jaguar I-Pace and Mercedes EQC and EQE large electric SUVs, among others.

How does the Ingolstadt EV fare? Let’s find out.

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?