Audi Q8 E-Tron vs Mercedes-Benz GLE400

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.

This is the first real Mercedes-Benz GLE. It's the second version of the SUV, but the last one was really just a big update of the old ML, and it never really soared to the heights it could have as a result of that.

But this new version - the 2020 GLE - is exactly that. It's new.

The exterior is new. The engines are new. The underpinnings are new. The interior - yep, you guessed it - new.

The big question is, though, is the GLE a competitor now? Can it stand up against the BMW X5, Maserati Levante, Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport, Volvo XC90 and even the VW Touareg?

Let's find out.