Had you told me a few years ago that Audi would place their revered high-performance RS badge on an EV (Electric Vehicle), I probably would've palmed you off as being ridiculously ill-informed and out of touch with the automotive industry.

I mean, high-performance Audi's are known to have burly engines, brandishing huge reserves of power and come replete with oval exhaust tips that emit quite fruity notes, much to the delight of enthusiasts. But silence is something one wouldn't associate with the fabled RS badge. Until now, that is.

Of course, much like its other German counterparts, Audi is also transitioning to offer alternative and more sustainable mobility options, and the e-tron is the umbrella brand shielding the firm's electric vehicle portfolio. This comprises the e-tron SUV range and the GT four-door sports car. On test here is the flagship of the latter model, the RS e-tron GT, which shares a platform with the brilliant Porsche Taycan only cloaked in an Ingolstadt suit instead of a Stuttgart item. And right off the bat, I reckon this is one of the most beautiful modern designed cars. I mean, just look at those contours. Fellow motorists were quite enamoured by it, with many either slowing down or speeding up to take a closer look and pointing their smartphones to take a snap.

It squats quite low to the ground and is shod with 265/35/21 and 305/35/21 tyres front and rear respectively. At an overall length of 4,989 mm, and a wheelbase of 2,898 mm - the model has quite a footprint and is as long as some double cab bakkies; in fact, the trade-off is ample legroom for even the rear occupants. Boot space is a little scant at 350 litres, while the front 85-litre space is just enough to house the charging chords and ancillaries. Speaking of which, the home AC charger should really be used to top-up overnight as it works more as a trickle charger and will take close to 24 hours to charge to full from empty. As part of the package, Audi will install a three-phase plug at your residence (a R5,000 value proposition) to slash that charging time in half. That said, if you can help it, rather use the DC charger between trips and resort to the home charger overnight or while the vehicle is parked at home during the day.

Earlier this year, Audi announced that it'll roll out its 150 kW DC (fast chargers) into the EV charging infrastructure, which will be the most powerful currently. Thankfully, these have now been rolled out and are part of the 33 Audi EV chargers that have been added to the network, which also include 80 kW DC and 22 kW AC options.

While we are quite au fait with electric cars here at TopGear SA Magazine, it was quite interesting to see how different each manufacturer goes about their EV strategy. For us, BMW seems to have mustered the range anxiety issue with the iX xDrive 50, which consistently returned above the 500 km range when we tested it over an extended period. This is definitely an area where Audi is left wanting and I reckon a bigger battery pack is likely to be introduced come facelift time.

Back to the RS e-tron GT, though, charging the model's 93 kWh battery via a 60 kW DC charger will take you from 20 to 80% within an hour, enough to grab a cup of coffee or attend to some email admin. A fully charged battery will give you around 370 km of real-world driving, which isn't bad, but definitely not class-leading.

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