New Audi A3 PHEV Has As Much Range As EVs From A Decade Ago

Audi A3

With more battery capacity over the older model, the A3 Sportback PHEV is now one of the longest-range PHEVs available today.

• The facelifted Audi A3 plug-in hybrid gets a larger battery and two power variants.
• They both have a WLTP electric range of 88 miles or more than many early EVs.

Audi has facelifted the A3 hatchback, and the plug-in hybrid version, which now features a larger battery, has much more range than before. It can also DC fast charge and its electric motor has enough oomph to make electric driving feel quick and it doesn’t need to start up its combustion engine even for highway driving.

The big news with the revised A3 Sportback PHEV is its new 25.7-kilowatt-hour battery with a usable capacity of 19.7 kWh. The increased capacity comes from optimized cell chemistry and improved packaging, which has increased the pack from 37 to 73 amps.

This new battery gives the A3 PHEV a remarkable WLTP electric range of 88 miles (143 kilometers), making it one of the longest-range PHEVs currently available. That's also about the same range as the original Nissan Leaf or the Ford Focus Electric before these vehicles got bigger batteries. They were both rated at under 80 miles when they debuted, which when factoring in the difference between the EPA and WLTP test cycles, puts the Audi very close.

The A3 PHEV can drive on electric power alone at a speed of up to 87 mph (140 km/h), and between this and its impressive battery range, it should allow most drivers to do their daily commute without having to start up the engine.

The A3 is one of the few plug-in hybrids on the market that can DC fast charge. It has a maximum charging power of 50 kW, which Audi says is enough to do the 10 to 80% slog in under 30 minutes. Using its 11 kW onboard charger to charge from flat to full takes 2.5 hours.

The A3 PHEV now comes in two flavors: the 40 TFSIe and the 45 TFSIe. The former has a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that together with the electric motor located in the gearbox makes 201 horsepower and 258 pound-feet (350 Nm) of torque. The latter has the same gas engine but in a higher state of tune, bringing the total system output to 268 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque.

This allows the quicker variant to sprint from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.3 seconds and top out at 147 mph (237 km/h). The electric motor makes the same 114 hp in both versions, so accelerating under electric power alone will be exactly the same, and it should feel pretty nippy with that much instant power on tap.

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Audi currently offers the A3 sedan in the U.S. but not the hatchback or any plug-in hybrid power. Had Audi offered it here, its only real rival (that’s an actual hatchback and not a crossover) would have been the Toyota Prius Prime, which has a smaller 13.6 kWh battery and considerably less electric range (up to 44 miles EPA and 53.4 miles WLTP).

Given the Prius Prime’s relative success in the States, the decision by Audi and other European manufacturers not to bring their smaller PHEVs here is somewhat perplexing—they would probably do very well. There appears to be renewed interest in PHEVs from American car buyers, and the increased demand is even driving PHEV prices up.