The new Audi e-tron GT is a genuine electric sports car

 The Audi e-tron GT qualifies as a performance electric sports car. There are two versions – the extremely fast one is called the e-tron GT, while the warp-speed version is called the RS e-tron GT. Both are mean-looking and, more objectively, they're low and wide because they've been designed to handle brilliantly.

They also have a boot (two boots, actually) and rear seats that are suitable for adults; so they're usable transport, not just toys. Oh, and in case you need a bit more convincing that the Audi e-tron GT is a serious bit of kit, underneath it's basically a Porsche Taycan, which is our current favourite performance car and one of the e-tron GT's chief rivals. The Tesla Model S would be another.

The entry-level Audi e-tron GT really is extremely fast.

The Audi e-tron GT has two electric motors, one driving the front wheels and one for the rears, making it four-wheel drive. That means it gets off the line with no drama in terms of wheelspin, but an all-encompassing drama in terms of the force with which it mashes you back in the seat.

Normally, the total power is 469bhp, but for a 2.5sec burst, it can beef that up to 523bhp, which equates to 0-62mph in 4.1sec (we tested it doing 0-60mph in 3.9sec). That's quite a bit faster than the entry-level Porsche Taycan and fast enough to make it our pick of the range.

The RS model ups the ante with a consistent 590bhp or, when that's not quite enough, a 2.5sec burst of 637hp. That fires you off like a mortar from rest to 62mph in 3.3sec. It's right up there, give or take, with the fastest-accelerating Taycan Turbo S (2.8sec) and the Tesla Model S Long Range. If you must have more haste, Tesla claims the Model S Plaid will do 0-60mph in 1.9sec.

If that seems unnecessary (which, let's face it, it is for a five-seat road car that isn't eligible for a Formula One race), the Model S's battery range adds a dose of sense to the one-upmanship. The Long Range will officially manage up to 412 miles on a charge, while the e-tron GT will do 295 miles (and the RS 280 miles). 

We tested the e-tron GT's real-world range and determined it to be around 230 miles during a mix of city, A-road and motorway driving. That all but resembled what you can expect from the Taycan 4S when it's fitted with the same 93kWh battery. That battery is an option on the 4S, though, while it's regular with the e-tron GT.

Right, let's move on from the bold statistics to the subtleties of handling. Here, the e-tron GT and Taycan appear like two peas from the same pod, while the Model S is a bit of a potato. The Taycan is tuned for ultimate agility, while the e-tron GT is intentionally slightly softer (Audi says it's closer to the ethos of a grand tourer), but it's still a great-handling electric car.

Take its steering. Yes, it's easier than the Taycan's, but it is direct and precise, so you can place the car on the road perfectly and feel some sense of the surface tingling your fingers as you do. Four-wheel steering (an option on the GT and standard on the RS) adds extra coordination at moderate speeds and greater stability on motorways.

We've only tested the adaptive air suspension standard on the e-tron GT RS (the e-tron GT gets adaptive suspension as standard with the air springs as an option) and there's a very small body lean for such a heavy car.

The e-tron GT's balance of grip is biased slightly towards the rear. That means that if you back off the accelerator, you can use the pivoting rear end to tuck the nose into the corner, then put the power down and feel the rear squatting and driving you out of the other side.

It's thrilling if you thrive on the intricacies of a car's handling dynamics and way more fun than the Tesla Model S, or even the Model 3, for that matter. If you're thinking, "All that sounds a bit too much – I just want to make it round a corner in one piece", it'll do that too. When you're not pushing its ultimate limits, the e-tron GT and RS are grippy, surefooted and a doddle to drive.

They're also very comfortable. The air suspension does very nearly as good a job of controlling the heavy body's vertical movements as the Taycan's, and it's slightly better than the Taycan at absorbing the thwack of a sleeping policeman. The Model S is softer, but that doesn't actually make it more comfortable – it's a bit jittery on motorways where the e-tron GT is sublime. 

The regenerative brakes of many electric cars are a bit of a pain. They replenish the battery with energy as you slow down, but that means integrating a normal braking system – for full-on stops – with the motors' retardation during gentler braking. Getting this symbiosis wrong makes the brakes hard to judge and disjointed, but the e-tron GT's are pretty good.

They're not quite as linear as the best brakes on regular (that is, non-electric) performance cars, but you can learn to meter them progressively enough.

One thing to note: you cannot drive the e-tron GT with one pedal as you can the Model S because the regenerative effect isn't powerful enough to stop the car by lifting off the accelerator alone. Also, the optional carbon-ceramic brakes that are available with the RS have a disappointing dead patch at the top of the pedal's travel. The standard brakes aren't blighted by that.

As with the Taycan, there's a fair amount of motor and gearbox whine in the e-tron GT, mainly below 30mph, and the gearbox (there's a two-speed automatic' box driving the rear wheels) can shunt at times under hard acceleration.

Road and wind noise are more noticeable than in some versions of the Taycan we've experienced but far from antagonising. The e-tron GT gets an acoustically glazed windscreen, and the Vorsprung trim adds acoustic glazing to the side windows as well.

Of course, this is an electric car, so there's no engine noise. To compensate, you can add a sound generator to the GT (it's standard on the RS) that vaguely mimics a petrol engine. The Taycan has something similar, but it sounds like the USS Enterprise accelerating to warp speed.

The basic design of the Audi e-tron GT is the same as the Porsche Taycan. That's excellent because it means the connection between the pedals, steering wheel and seat are spot-on. There's loads of improvement to modify it as required too.

The e-tron GT arrives with a well-bolstered eight-way electric driver's seat that offers good side support. It doesn't incorporate lumbar adjustment, though. To have that, you need to option the 14-way seat (or you get an 18-way seat with a massaging facility as standard on the RS model). That gives you a far more comfortable workstation than the driving seat of the Tesla Model S.

The joy of joys: this automotive marvel is confident enough in its technical brilliance to not force the issue by littering the dashboard with futuristic but fiddly touch-sensitive buttons. You get real buttons for most things – you know, the sort that is easy to use when you're doing 70mph along a motorway. You won't find many of those in the Taycan or Model S.

The 12.3inch digital screen that houses the e-tron GT's instruments is extremely clear and high resolution. It's also easy to configure from the steering wheel buttons – as opposed to the Taycan's instrument screen that also has touch functions.

If you enjoy music, the RS version has a 16-speaker, 710-watt B&O stereo, which you can option on the e-tron GT as part of the Comfort and Sound Pack. It sounds good but not exceptional. 

Visibility isn't bad at the front, but the windscreen pillars are quite chunky and the window line is high. The rear screen is very shallow, and the tapering roofline stops you from seeing very much out of the rear corners.

LED headlights, a rear-view camera, and front and rear parking sensors are standard. Adaptive matrix LED headlights with main laser beams, which double the length of the illumination, are standard on the Vorsprung trim and RS e-tron GT. A night vision camera and a 360-degree camera are also standard.

Equipment levels are high, so we don't see any need to go beyond the entry-level e-tron GT. We've discussed already that it comes with LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof, eight-way electric front seats and all its infotainment gubbins. You'll also enjoy other luxuries, including 20in alloy wheels, power-folding door mirrors, keyless entry, a powered boot lid with gesture control, privacy glass, heated front seats and three-zone climate control.

The RS e-tron GT includes 21in alloy wheels, the upgraded air suspension, 18-way sports seats with massaging and ventilation, four-wheel steering, the engine sound generator, an electronic rear differential and beefed-up brakes.