Audi Q8 e-tron EV Charging Cable

The renamed car, with a much bigger battery

The Q8 e-tron is the e-tron renamed and reworked for 2023, and the substantive change is the pack. The Q8 e-tron 55 and the SQ8 carry 106 kWh usable from a 114 kWh gross battery, against 86.5 usable on the outgoing e-tron 55. Quoted range went from about 271 miles to between 362 and 373, with the SQ8 at 310 to 319 and the Q8 e-tron 50 at 305 to 314.

Charging hardware carried over: 11 kW three phase as standard with 22 kW optional, and DC at 170 kW. Three phase power is a factory and workplace thing. On a domestic supply the car settles at 7.4 kW. The 32A single phase cable covers it in full. Anything quoted quicker elsewhere is a three phase figure rather than a home one.

Two ports again, and it matters more on a bigger car

Two inlets, one per front wing, which is unusual enough to be worth a paragraph. Rapid charging goes through the offside port, which carries both Type 2 and CCS; the nearside port is AC only and does everything a home charge point needs. Because one of them always faces your wall box, the cable length this car needs is usually shorter than its size suggests.

On a car 4.92 metres long that is worth real money. Without the second inlet you would be into 10 metres on most driveways simply to get round the vehicle. With it, the question becomes which wing is nearer, and the answer is usually within five metres of the wall box.

How long a full charge takes

Those times come from dividing the pack by the delivered power and adding 13 per cent for losses, then rounding to the quarter hour. The range column assumes 3.5 miles per kWh rather than a summer best case. Sixteen hours from genuinely empty at 7.4 kW, which is a number to understand rather than to plan around: nobody arrives at nought per cent, and a seven hour night tariff window still moves about 180 miles into the car.

The three pin row is on the table for completeness. On a 106 kWh battery a 13 amp socket needs more than two days, so it belongs in the boot for emergencies and nowhere in a charging routine.

Which length for a Q8 e-tron

Work out which front wing ends up closer to your charge point when the car is parked where it actually lives, and measure to that one. If your charge point is on the offside you get the DC inlet as a bonus; if it is on the nearside the AC-only port does the same job for home charging.

Five metres covers most installations on that basis. Ten metres is the answer where the charge point is a long way from the bay, or where the car has to park nose-out on a shared drive. Work it out from where the car genuinely sits, not where it could sit, and leave slack.

How these cables are built

Construction is to IEC 62196-2 with CE marking, IP55 weather protection and a -30C to +50C operating range.

Three pin construction follows IEC 62752, CE marked, IP67 rated, usable from -30C to +60C. Backed by a two year manufacturer's warranty, with free next working day delivery and a 30 day return window.

Related: Audi Q4 e-tron EV Charging Cable, and Audi charging cables for every other model we cover. For a wall box or public post the lead is the Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable.

Audi Q8 e-tron charging cable questions

What cable does a Q8 e-tron need?

A 32A single phase Type 2 to Type 2 cable. Measure to whichever front wing is nearer your charge point, because there is a Type 2 socket on both.

How long does a Q8 e-tron take to charge at home?

About sixteen hours from genuinely empty at 7.4 kW on the 106 kWh usable pack. In practice you replace what the day used, which is a few hours.

What changed from the e-tron to the Q8 e-tron?

Mainly the battery: 106 kWh usable against 86.5, taking range from about 271 miles to between 362 and 373. The charger, the connectors and the two-port layout all carried over.

Which port takes rapid charging?

The offside one, ahead of the driver's door, which is the combined Type 2 and CCS inlet. The nearside port is AC only.