5 Reasons to Buy an Audi EV; 5 Reasons to Stick with Gas

A Tale of Two Flagships

Testing two Audi Rennsport flagships back-to-back made for a wild start to the summer. Equal parts luxury and insanity, with two wildly different approaches to their engineering madness. The first was the 2025 RS Q8 performance, a $163,000, 631-horsepower twin-turbocharged, V8-powered super SUV engineered to split time between daily driving comfort and setting Nürburgring lap records. The second was the 2025 RS e-tron GT performance, a $190,000, 921-horsepower, all-electric super sedan with a new hydraulic suspension option and several upgrades over the original iteration.

The most powerful Audi SUV of all time and the most powerful Audi of all time. Not only pinnacles of their respective drivetrain technologies, but representatives of the best and worst qualities of the Audi EV ownership experience versus the Audi gasoline-powered ownership experience.

To that end, it made me think about what I love most about Audi EVs and Audi gas cars, and so I put together this list of five reasons why Audi EVs are better than Audi’s gasers, and five reasons you should stick with internal combustion.

What would you add to this list? Let me know HERE in our forums!

1. EV – Hasta La Vista, Turbo Lag!

Naturally, a 921-horsepower all-wheel-drive sedan is going to be a rocket regardless of its fuel source. So maybe the RS e-tron GT performance isn’t an ideal example for this debate. But as a whole, Audi EVs deliver more thrilling acceleration and superior linear power bands compared to their internal combustion counterparts. 

More specifically, every gasoline-powered Audi utilizes a turbocharger to improve the performance and efficiency of the company’s 2.0L, 2.5L, 2.9L, 3.0L, and 4.0L motors. But each one of them — even the mighty RS Q8 — suffers a touch of turbo lag. That moment, however extended or brief, where the turbo needs to spool up to kick in more power.

Audi’s EVs, even the entry-level Q4, suffer no turbo lag, instead delivering what feels like instant, lag-free power that feels like you’re driving a big-block V8.

Still, there’s one huge thing that EV drivetrains are lacking…

1. Gas – Engines Have Souls

While Audi’s designers and engineers have done a wonderful job making Audi EVs sound delightfully like movie-soundtrack spaceships, Audi’s internal combustion vehicles offer a lot more soul and aural immersion when driving.

There’s just something about fuel vapors mixing with atmosphere and rhythmically exploding inside a combustion chamber — be it the 2.5L 5-cylinder, a 2.0L 4 banger, a 3.0L sixer, or the mighty 4.0L V8s — that results in a symphony for enthusiasts. Not just speaking to our minds, but to something deeper inside ourselves, where these machines end up sounding like they, too, are living and breathing with beating heartbeats.

And that is something no EV has yet to top.

Although EVs do have one massive advantage you’ll never experience in a gas-powered Audi…

2. EV – At-Home Refueling (AKA Charging)

No more gas stations? Sign me up. Sure, EVs take longer to „fill“ than gas-powered cars. But imagine never having to go to a gas station again while you’re in range of home. No more long lines, trying to figure out who’s next and if that random dude is going to sneak in a cut the line. No more waiting for the attendant to return from an unannounced break to get your change. No more fiddling with discount cards, typing on a credit card machine that’s probably hacked and trying to steal your identity. 

If you’re lucky enough to own or rent a home with a private driveway and charging, all you have to do is go home and plug in.

Plus, depending on where you live and your electricity rates, driving an EV can actually be much cheaper per mile than driving a gas-powered car because 1) EVs are more efficient and 2) electric rates are often cheaper than local gas prices (although this is not always true). 

However, there are two places where gas stations are wildly more convenient than home chargers…

2. Gas – Road-Trips & Track Time

When you’re on the go, driving for hundreds of miles, EV owners often face woefully inadequate public charging infrastructure. Sometimes you can grab a quick charge while on a lunch break, but other times EV owners suffer broken machines, payment/activation issues, and frustratingly slow charging speeds. This problem will hopefully go away as EVs and the public infrastructure evolve, but for now, it’s a headache.

Also, for those interested in track driving events, it can be challenging to manage driving an EV to an event, participating, charging, and returning home in a timely manner. Not impossible, just more difficult than gas-powered vehicles.

Although there is one key reason why you might want to experience performance driving in your EV…

3. EV – Lower Center of Gravity

Where ICE cars and SUVs have to deal with heavy engines mounted high above the front axle, the heaviest component in an EV is the battery pack, which is mounted in the floorpan. This results in a lower overall center of gravity compared to gas-powered Audis, which makes EVs feel more planted and less prone to body roll during aggressive driving.

However…

3. Gas – Lighter is Better

Yes, Audi’s flagship gas-powered models aren’t exactly svelte. But if you’re comparing two similar models (two sedans, two SUVs, etc.), EVs are typically heavier than gas-powered vehicles.

And weight is the enemy of pure driving experiences, and not just for the reasons you may think.

Yes, weight reduces performance. But as we’ve discussed, EVs have enough juice to overcome heft. No, the real problems are vehicle dynamics — the way weight shifts around when you’re driving aggressively — and wear and tear on key components like tires. More specifically, heavier vehicles go through tires quicker (and sometimes brakes, although EVs use regenerative braking, which helps save those components) and are more difficult to drive quickly because you have to account for the behavior of all that mass when transitioning speeds. IE, you have to be more careful braking and turning with more weight.

Still, if you hate going to the dealership to replace worn-out components, an EV might still be a better option because…

4. EV – Less Annual Maintenance

EVs use their electric motors to help slow vehicles down before engaging traditional hydraulic braking systems. Which means you’ll have to do fewer brake jobs on EVs, not to mention there are no fluids to be changed like motor oil or various transmission, transfer case, and differential fluids. There are also no spark plugs and mass air flow sensors and engine intake filters. All routine services that you don’t have to do.

EVs aren’t maintenance-free, of course. But there are fewer serviceable parts compared to internal combustion vehicles. So that saves a bit of time and money, unless you encounter one of these big EV failure points…

4. Gas – No High Voltage Electric Battery & Fewer Tire Changes

EV’s aren’t all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to maintenance. There are serviceable items, like cooling systems or lightbulbs or little servo motors for things like door locks and a/c vents. But there are two major EV expenses to consider. The extra heft and added power mean that many owners run through sets of tires quicker than on lighter cars. 

And, should you have the high-voltage battery pack fail during your ownership period, or should you damage the battery during an accident, it’s catastrophically expensive to replace. To be fair, some folks make it sound like these failures happen quickly and frequently, but many owners and automakers are finding that batteries are lasting longer than initially expected.

So this is one of those areas where you should understand the risks a little more, although the same could be said for Audi’s complex and expensive-to-replace ICE engines above a certain mileage.

But there’s still one more thing that EV powertrains do that a gas motor can only do at stoplights…

5. EV – Reduced Air Pollution & Wasted Energy

I’m not here to argue that 912-horsepower all-electric super sedans are a pathway to making Planet Earth more habitable for humanity. But what EVs do really well is reduce day-to-day local pollution. And not just because there are no exhaust gas emissions, but think of the reduced noise factor. Two things that are particularly helpful if you live in a city where there are hundreds of thousands of daily commuters.

Because what I’ve experienced is this: commuting in an RS Q8 is wonderful… but sitting in traffic makes it feel like you’re wasting its potential. Idling along, burning expensive fuel and sending junk into the air around you… while you’re going 10-30 mph in bumper-to-bumper traffic. 

Meanwhile, you can argue that the RS e-tron GT also isn’t living up to its potential, but since you’re sitting there what’s effectively a quiet appliance, where the battery’s only powering the radio and air conditioner, it feels like you’re saving energy for later when the road opens up and you can drop the hammer.

Although that’s not the only thing on an EV that drops quickly…

5. Gas – Flatter Depreciation Curves (Ish)

Like many European luxury brands, Audis don’t typically fare well in the depreciation department. But amongst the Audi model lineup, the worst depreciation is amongst its EV models, including the glorious RS e-tron GT (albeit before the most recent update). I think the issue is that people are scared to buy used EVs because of the battery concerns. And many people are opposed to EVs for political as well as practical reasons (many of which we’ve discussed today), which drives down resale values more than gas-powered Audis.

So Audi EV or Audi gasoline-powered, which one is right for you?

Bottom Line

I’m not here to tell you what type of car to buy. Every person needs and wants different things. But what I’ve learned over the last five years, driving (almost) every new electric and gas-powered Audi model, is that Audi’s electric cars and SUVs are in several key ways superior to the current internal combustion lineup. Even if Audi’s gas-powered models — especially the S and RS models — remain wonderful and exciting.

To me, if you live in a city, don’t routinely do roadtrips, and own/rent a place with at-home charging, it’s hard to beat an EV for its power and efficiency. 

However, if you live for driving engagement and routinely drive long distances — especially in extreme cold and/or heat — stick to gasoline-powered Audis.

As for Audi’s two flagships, I’ll be back with a review of each very shortly, but they’re both wonderful in so many ways. 

Images: Audi USA & Michael S. Palmer