What is the status of your e-tron reservation?
 

What is the status of your e-tron reservation?

Antigua Blue Prestige: 9/16/18 Deposit; 3/8/19 Config. Closed; 3/15/19 -Dealer stated 4/5/19 Production Date; ~ 3/20/19 web page went to “Gearing up...” where it remains

Mine's on a boat en route to the US (Edition One). The range disclosure is a real gut-punch, though, and I'm not sure what I will do.

Thinking that the market will be okay with that seems to me like a miscalculation on their part, but time will tell.

Audi built a Luxury Audi vehicle that is electrified. There are many clever engineering aspects to the e-Tron. Bottom line is that all the weight and electronic bells and whistles cost in terms of range (and price). This going to be a special car, but in 2-3 years there will be too many higher range options and value of the e-Tron will plummet, making it a poor investment. It will be hard to justify >$80K (after tax credit) out the door (for a Prestige). A "reasonable" lease seems the only way to minimize the money/risk put into this.

I understand the potential for a loss in value but I have never considered a car to be an investment.

I agree
 

I agree with DMcDnald; I was originally planning to purchase and keep for at least 5 years, because from my driving habits, that's when I would really start saving money on not buying gas compared to increase price of the vehicle, etc.

With the lower range, though, I think the car will be worth much less, because in that time battery tech and other competitors will have more vehicles with better range.

So, I'm really undecided at this point as to what I'm going to do; I will definitely lease now rather than purchase if I take the car. I was able to snag an Edition One reservation, but I'm not really sure that is going to make it worth much more after 5 years.

Speaking as a former owner of a "launch" i3, lease, don't buy. And don't lease without a big incentive in the form of a wildly optimistic residual value. The i3 got hammered on resale because of it's low range and high price. BMW began to really incentivize the i3 leases to move the cars. Identical conditions I see for the e-Tron. Judging from "my" car: paid deposit mid Feb 2019, locked on 3/28 and currently "in production", plus the advice from the site advisor that a new reservation today would result in production in May leads me to the conclusion that production is front running demand. If people are declining to take reserved cars without a deal, deals will appear, including Edition One cars. I'm going to decline to take once the car appears. It'll give me a chance to see the actual color (Siam Beige). If deals appear, there may be a number of ordered, but declined cars available; as well as no more than normal lead times for another order, after we have all seen the cars in the flesh. "My" car might even still be available.

I am in a similar situation and inclined to cancel when the car arrives. The range is a killer. I have an i3 and I know what you are talking about.

For comparison
 

I have asked my dealer to provide the residual percentage and money factor for the Q8 using variations of length of lease and mileage allowance. If the e-tron turns out to have less favorable numbers than the Q8 when it becomes time for me to sign the lease documents on the e-tron, in my opinion it will clearly be Audi's expression of a lack of confidence in the sustainability of the value of the e-tron. In this circumstance, no matter how much I may want the e-tron, I will more likely than not cancel the e-tron.

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable approach to making a decision. I believe that the residual for this etron will be quite low and the money factor not favorable unless Audi chooses to subsidize both. In 24 months, Audi is likely to release the Q4 etron with a purpose-built EV platform, a substantially increased range and lower price point. If the lease offer makes sense, I will lease for 24 months and enjoy every minute of it. At the end of the lease, I will take a look at what is available from Audi at that time. If the lease doesn't make sense, even though I would love to drive this vehicle, I will have to pass :(