Audi has stopped putting heat pumps in the Q4 e-tron. Earlier this week, the German automaker sent an email to reservation holders stating that from February onwards all Q4s will have resistive heaters instead of heat pumps.
Like the majority of VW Group companies, Audi is still feeling the weight of the semiconductor shortage. While some manufacturers like Tesla have managed to mitigate supply chain issues by building their own hardware, Audi still relies heavily on third-party companies for a lot of parts.
The Audi Q4 e-tron has been on sale in the US since December 2021, however availability has been extremely limited due to the aforementioned supply chain problems. Audi sold just 1,872 Q4s in the US in 2022. For reference, Tesla delivered over 250,000 Model Ys in the same period.
If you order a Q4 e-tron today, you'll have to wait 12-18 months for delivery if you are based in the US. Meanwhile, the Model Y currently has lead times of only a few weeks (and it also just got significantly cheaper).
That said, the Q4 e-tron is still a compelling proposition on paper. It features a 77 kWh battery as standard, good for up to 265 miles per charge according to the EPA. And although it can't avail of the tax credit anymore, its $49,800 starting price is in line with rivals.
