The Electric SUV Face-Off! Audi Q4 E-tron vs Polestar 4
We are here at Farra just ahead of our live show and we have taken the opportunity to put two EVs head-to-head. Now we have the Audi Q4 Ron and the Polestar 4. Two EVs that you might have in your hypothetical shopping basket. So we are going to see which one just clinches it with a little help from our friends at Octopus Electric Vehicles. Welcome to Everything Electric. [Music] Now Alvin, you know quite a lot about cars. You’ve probably driven the most number of EVs in the UK. I’ve driven a lot of EVs in the UK and outside of the UK, actually. So, very fortunate in what I do. Now, why is it that you do that? Tell us about what you actually do as your day job. So, I’m procurement director at Octopus EV. Uh, which basically means I buy all of our cars. Uh, so in order to do that, I need to drive them. I need to test them. I need to make sure they’re right for our customers. All right. So, we are in very good hands today to compare these two rather lovely vehicles. Um, maybe we should start with some headline facts. Uh so we have Pulsar 4. This has 100 kW battery. Yeah. With a range of roughly around 367 miles, give or take a little bit. Whereas we have the Audi Q4 Ron here with a 77. 77. Yes. And that has a range of well about 260 mi real well range I think. But there are some specs which could give you about 337 mi. So, in terms of price, this is a little bit more expensive than that one. I think this starts at around 60,000 and that’s about 45,000, but obviously you can spec it up to make them fairly similar in terms of price. But by the time you spec both the vehicles up, you end up sort of getting roughly similar pricing on on on both. But again, it depends on I think the nice thing is you can have an entry- level model or you could go and spec out with lots of different things. Call it I call it a Christmas tree. Uh when you put lots of stuff on the car, uh depends on how you want it. What are the things that you would always recommend people add on that you get most value for money from? Uh do you know what? So value for moneywise actually I for me actually it’s not value it’s personally privacy glass is always one thing that I like to have on a car. So I’ve got uh I’ve got three children. Uh so having privacy glasses is quite nice in the back for them. Um and I’m a massive fan of big wheels. Like I need I know I know that sounds really typical but I love I love a big wheel. You’re a car guy. Of course you’re going to like a big wheel. But I will say as someone who loves efficiency, smaller wheels are better. I would always go personally for head-up display just cuz I sit so close to the wheel. It’s nice to have the instructions a bit further away from me. Okay. So, what we’re really comparing here, because we have quite similar performance really, but we’ve got a newer brand, although based on a a much more established automotive company, and we have a legacy brand. So, I suppose thoughts on general look and feel? I like them both. Obviously, they’re slightly different. I think the on the Pstar 4 um obviously it was the first car so there’s no rear window um which divides opinion me personally I would have loved to have a rear window in there I’m not the biggest fan of like virtual virtual wing mirrors or virtual rear view mirror but I understand why they’ve done it and and for the design wise it does fit but personally I just I would love to had a rear window on the car do you know it’s a really interesting design choice because there’s no rear windscreen in order to maximize the space that they have in the back of the car. It feels like a car that’s very much built for being chauffeur driven or unless you have enormous teenagers that need a lot of space. So, one or the other. Yeah. What do you think about the about this one then? So, what I like about the model you actually have here today is the sportback version. So, it does come in an SUV or a sportback. Um, which obviously the SUV gives you slightly more height just on the on the roof line at the back. Um, but again, it’s ultimately the same car but gives you two different feels. So you can have a slightly sportier like SUV or if you want a traditional looking one then you go for the the outdoor the non sport bad version. Mhm. And it does feel like quite a traditional design when you compare it to this. This feels like much more similar to an internal combustion engine car especially given that we’ve got that fake grill whereas this I feel has a slightly sleeker much more EV feel I would say. Yeah. Yeah. And I think obviously with the legacy brands what they’re obviously doing is taking on the I guess the heritage of what they had with ICE and obviously converting quite a lot of that to EV whereas Polestar being only EV their design language is is slightly different and is obviously tailored more towards as you say that sort of sleek more I guess futuristic looking design. So you have had experience of both brands. What’s your sense of the digital experience in both vehicles? So I really like them both actually. I think the again the Audi very much like the its ICE versions is is very traditional in terms of how they set the car out. Um the new MMI this this particular one actually has the slightly older version of their multimedia system. Um the new Q6 actually is the first car developed with the with the newer platform. Yes, I’ve tried it. It’s awesome. Yeah. So I I what I’m looking forward to is when we see updates on the Q4 that have that. Um but so in terms of tech right now out of the two, if I had to pick the Polestar would win. Yeah. And this one is a sort of Google native software system. It feels very famili familiar. It works really well. They love thinking about user experience. I feel like even just how I’ve been talking, I may be showing my bias towards the Polestar brand. Um, practicality then. What do you deem to be slightly more practical? So, I I guess it depends on the what what you want really. As I said, like if you’re if you want something that’s got a slightly higher seating position, more of an SUV feel, then the Audi would be the one to go for. Um the polestar it’s a bit of a I guess it sort of sits in a weird segment right of like a not a saloon not an SUV slightly bigger um but it really depends on on sort of on what you want and and how and how you feel in each one of the cars and I think that is something that we see quite acutely because sort of EVs are very much designing for those low drag counts for maximizing that efficiency and you do end up with these things that are like exactly as you say is it saloon is it an SUV is it some kind of thing that exists in between. Yeah, I think car segments now are becoming very bled. In in traditional days, we used to talk about it as a B segment car or a C segment SUV. I think now that the and that’s what’s actually great about EVs, right, is they’re able to to sort of really push those boundaries and blur those lines around. Well, actually, where does this car sit and what does it deliver? And I think now I think what Pstar done really well with the four here is to be able to sort of give a uh sort of like blur that boundary between an SUV and a saloon and go well actually here’s something slightly different um and tailor made with with all the tech. Now if anyone watching wants to really see what the interiors look like, what the experience is like, what they drive like then of course we would point them to our full episodes. However, for the purpose of this, which one wins for you? I think me personally, I said because of my own personal situation and and and wanting that little bit more space. Um, and the fact that it has that rear window, I’m going to go with the Audi. And I I can tell you that we’re not just doing this for camera because we had a little conversation off camera, so I knew this was going to happen. I would go for this. I love the Scandi design. Uh, I think it’s it’s awesome. I I haven’t driven it long enough to understand how much motion sickness will or won’t impact me with the rear windscreen, but I think it’s, you know, that sickness, maybe I’m willing to take it on for this beautiful design. Fair. Yeah. Amazing. Well, that is all that we have time for. Uh please do let us know what you think in the comments and if you have been, thank you for watching.
We put two popular EVs head-to-head: the Audi Q4 E-tron vs the Polestar 4. In this video, we dive into range, price, design, tech, and practicality to see which electric vehicle might be the better fit for your lifestyle. With expert insights from Alvin at Octopus Electric Vehicles, we cover everything from interior features to driving feel, and discuss the unique design choices of both vehicles. @octopuselectricvehicles
0:00 – Introduction & Meet the Expert: Alvin from Octopus Electric Vehicles
0:56 – Key Specs: Battery, Range, and Price
2:00 – Recommended Features & Personal Preferences
2:50 – Polestar 4: Design and Practicality
4:00 – Audi Q4 E-tron: Design and Variants
4:45 – Comparing Legacy vs EV-Only Brands
5:10 – Digital Experience & Infotainment Systems
5:50 – Practicality & Interior Space
6:30 – Segment Blurring in Modern EVs
6:55 – Verdict: Audi Q4 E-tron vs Polestar 4
7:15 – Closing Thoughts
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