Hybrid, or electrified, vehicle propulsion continues its relentless march towards ubiquity. And weve crossed another small milestone. For the 2021 model year, Audi only offers one non-hybrid engine for the Q5, which slots in the very popular small premium SUV segment. The updated model comes with three powertrains.

The base Q5 45 gets power from a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four-cylinder engine that makes 261 horsepower, 13 more than last year, and 273 lb-ft of torque. It has a 12-volt mild hybrid system that uses a belt driven alternator/starter to improve automatic start/stop functionality and ekes out a bit more fuel economy, which is now 23 mpg city, 28 highway, 25 combined. Compared to 2020, city and combined mpg improves by one, highway is unchanged. Drivetrain duties are still handled by a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and Quattro AWD. Audi claims 0-60 mph takes but 5.7-seconds.

The Q5 55 is a plug-in hybrid model. It also uses the 2.0-liter engine, but with the aid of a separate electric motor. Total system horsepower peaks at a very healthy 362 and torque at 369 lb-ft. You still get the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission as well as Quattro AWD. But with the aid of electricity, 0-60 times drop to 5.0 seconds. Fuel economy is 50 mpge combined and 27 combined when you run out of charge. Speaking of, the 14.1 KWh battery takes less than two and a half hours to recharge on a level 2, 240-volt system.

To ditch the electric motor and see displacement and the number of cylinders go up, you add an S to the Q5 name. Powered by a 3.0-liter V6, peak output of the SQ5 comes to 349 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque with no help from electricity whatsoever! Okay, thats not true, the SQ5 does still have spark plugs. The seven-speed dual-clutch box is also ditched in favor of an eight-speed automatic transmission, power still heads to all-four wheels.

With the plug-in hybrid Q5 now taking the lead in peak output, Audi tweaked the gear ratios of the gearbox to ensure the SQ5 is the quickest. First gear is now six percent more aggressive, giving the SQ5 a bit more torque to pull off the line, while second through fifth gears are between two and three percent more aggressive to keep the acceleration party going. These changes drop 0-60 mph time to 4.7 seconds, a 0.4-second improvement over last year.

Sixth gear remains the same direct-drive gear as before and seventh and eighth gears become more extreme overdrive gears. As a result, highway fuel economy actually improves by one to 24 mpg, while city and combined fuel economy stay the same at 18 and 20, respectively. This being the sporty version, know that if you keep your right foot firmly planted, youll eventually reach a governed 155 mph.

Its not all powertrain thats new for the Q5, of course. Audi updated the styling, front and rear, and adorned the interior with more technology and screens. The grille is now a single-piece octagonal shape with a diamond pattern, for example. Headlights are standard LED and taillights have the option of OLED.

Inside, Audi now offers standard wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto. You can have an instrument cluster screen, which Audi calls virtual cockpit, in full 1080P HD resolution if you get go premium plus or higher trim and the center console touchscreen increased in size to a full 10.1-inches. Furthermore, the Q5 has LTE WiFi connectivity.

Getting a little seat time in a SQ5, with the top-level prestige trim, I came away quite impressed with its refinement, comfort and poise. First off, its a very pleasant place to while away the hours with supportive seats that offer good upper and lower bolstering, as well as plenty of adjustable lumbar support. Being early December during the drive, I also quite enjoyed the heated seats and steering wheel. And this is a small, but important detail: it was warm, but not hot. Thats a common too much of a good thing kind of problem that is blissfully absent here. Speaking of warm and cold, I also appreciated the heated and cooled cup holder and I used it both ways, my iced tea stayed iced and my hot tea hot.

In general, Audis center console system is intuitive and easy to use. I spent most of the time on wirelessly connected Apple CarPlay as my phone wirelessly charged on a pad just behind the cupholders, which are right behind the shifter. The one issue I had with the system is the Hey Audi voice command works just as well as the other Hey, Manufacturer systems, which is to say, not very. No matter, I could get most everything done with holding down the voice command prompt button on the steering wheel and use Siri. It must be noted, though, that the Google system on Polestar 2 still has all the others beat.

Fortunately, the creature comforts are but icing on a great to drive cake. The SQ5 is fantastic fun, given the segment. The changes Audi made to the gear ratios to give just a little more oomph off the line work brilliantly. While always smooth, the SQ5 is immensely quick. It makes me quite curious to drive the PHEV with similar power, electric torque, and a heavier curb weight: Plug-in weighs 4,619 lbs and the SQ5 4,288.

For the twisty bits, steering weight was spot-on with a nice feeling of precision as well. The rack felt the perfect speed for a small SUV like this. Its also nice to have standard adjustable shocks and different drive modes. That said, I would like it more if the sport setting were comfort and sport went a step stiffer. Regardless, body control was well managed in both modes and in sport it was quite lively. Turn-in was much sharper than I expected, closer to Porsche Macan GTS levels.

Audi

And chassis balance was shockingly neutral, a touch loose even. Thats for two reasons. First, the SQ5 has a very effective, torque vectoring rear differential. Second, this particular SQ5 had very low grip winter tires mounted during a relatively warm and perfectly dry day. Low grip tires tend to induce a bit looser behavior in cars built tuned for more sporting rubber. It was all very controllable and drama free, but I highly suspect the SQ5s rear to feel more planted on summer rubber.

When its time to calm things down, cruising on the interstate is fantastic. The exhaust lets out a pleasing muted tone and the front side acoustic glass, which is thicker glass installed on the Prestige trim Q5, helps make both wind and road noise minimally intrusive. I would take a brushed aluminum trim interior over carbon fiber, but find the look generally tasteful. The diamond stitching in the seats is a plus. And even through its on the smaller side, the SQ5 feels plenty spacious inside. This SQ5 is a fantastic road trip car.

Audi is very good at understated elegance, looking clean and purposeful without being flashy. And the Ingolstadt brand continues to refine its models with impressive detail. The slowest Q5 you can buy takes less than six seconds to reach 60 mph and starts at $44,395. Getting the plug-in raises the price to $52,995 and the SQ5 I drove starts one grand higher than that.

For the money you get a small SUV that will give you near sports sedan level thrills when you want them and luxury serenity when you need it. If you think about it, thats a lot of value for your dollar.

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A Greener 2021 Audi Q5 Line-Up Allows the SQ5 to get More Red - Autoweek