So, what happens when the brand itself forces you not to charge? I now know the feeling of range anxiety. Audi Philippines gathered some motoring hack guinea pigs for a drive to Baguio. We were to take a standard Audi Q8 e-tron 55 and drive from their showroom in EDSA Greenhills to Baguio Country Club and back, around 526 kilometers, on a single charge. I was confident in the beginning because, despite my stature, I have a light foot thanks to high gas prices. My brain was shouting, “Baguio with an EV? E-Z!”

There are three restrictions during this drive. First is we should be in Range Mode which is like the Q8’s Eco Mode. Second is our aircon is set to 23 degree Celsius with the fan setting at one. Any changes to the climate control setting, we were warned, will affect our consumption. Third is there should only be two people in the car. That’s easy enough, only our car had a handicap built in already: my weight already accounts for two people.

We started in Audi Greenhills with 100 percent charge and 425 kilometers shown as range. Now, that range displayed changes real time. It moves up or down depending on the throttle manners of the driver. So, this range displayed considers the driving style of the previous driver, whoever that may be.

This was proven right once we reached Petron Lakeshore on NLEX. We had 90 percent charge remaining, but our range went up to 496 kilometers. Next stop was the PTT gas station on SCTEX. Although it was only 29 kilometers (distance-wise), our range dropped by 70 kilometers (426 kilometers left) and battery down five to 85 percent. This is down to inconsistent driving behavior such as constant acceleration and braking.

Past this point, I was able to regain some consistency on the drive to Rosario, La Union thanks to the mostly empty and straight TPLEX. I wasn’t able to connect to the Audi’s Apple CarPlay, so I was left hearing my own thoughts: what’s for lunch, I wonder. That and the amazing massage function of the seats and the Q8 e-Tron’s Lane Keeping Assist feature that keeps me centered on this boring piece of road.

Once at Shell by the Rosario Rotunda, we still had 67 percent left and my range showed 339 kilometers—higher than the computed difference from PTT SCTEX. At this point, I switched driving duties since I didn’t want to be stressed during the mountain climb.

Partly, I was envious because the Q8 e-Tron makes overtaking easy. Slow trikes, buses, and trucks proved easy pickings. But as with any EV, putting the power down draws more charge from the battery. It’s an equivalent exchange, after all. Now, we could have opted to just memorize the rear end of a Victory Liner, but we thought it better to overtake now and chill later. It proved to be the right decision as when we arrived at the steepest uphill corners, there were no more obstacles.

It was midday when we reached Baguio so there wasn’t much traffic yet. We got to Camp John Hay without a hitch and reached the Baguio Country Club with 45 percent charge remaining and 142 kilometers of range yet. Apparently, that’s even better than Audi Philippines’ previous run.

We didn’t use the cars nor charge them during our overnight stay (Audi had prepared different units for photography and even pasalubong runs in the city). Climbing aboard, our Q8 e-Tron had 43 percent charge and 137 kilometers remaining. Why the drop, you ask? It’s called, “vampire drain.” Even when it’s not in use and shut off, the car still consumes charge to maintain functionalities like battery management, alarm, and the key fob sensor among others.

I got back behind the wheel for the downhill run from Baguio. We left at 11:30 AM, just before Typhoon Ofel got too close. Although there wasn’t much rain yet, it made the road foggy forcing us to drive slower, hampering our cars’ energy regeneration. Once we were past the iconic tunnel, the road cleared up and that allowed us to drive normally. When we arrived some 50 kilometers down at Shell Rosario again, we still had 43 percent charge and our range increased to 215 kilometers thanks to regenerative braking.

After uphill terrains, flat highways can be problematic for EVs. Unlike a gas- or diesel-powered car which rely on multi-speed gearboxes to improve their high-speed efficiency, the single-speed gearbox means the electric motor must spin faster to keep up its speed. This is coupled with the lack of regenerative braking and an increase in aero drag. That’s why by the time we reached the City Mall SCTEX, our charge is down to 26 percent, but our range lost only 56 kilometers to 159 kilometers left despite the more than 100 kilometes from Shell Rosario. 26 percent and we still had to take on the cars on NLEX and traffic of Metro Manila. This is where the range anxiety started getting real.

We stopped for a late lunch in Petron Bocaue Southbound with 15 percent left and 88 kilometers remaining. The distance from there to the Audi showroom in EDSA Greenhills? Around 34 kilometers. Good, I thought—we have a buffer of around 50 kilometers. But you know how unpredictable the traffic is so I can’t really rest easy.

After NLEX, we climbed up to Skyway instead of taking the long stretch of EDSA from Balintawak. If we do that, we’ll probably have to be rescued near the Cubao underpass—a notorious traffic choke point. We took the Skyway Stage 3 with 11 percent left and 65 kilometers remaining to take on the back roads going to Greenhills. We exited at Araneta Avenue, went straight past Aurora Blvd. and turned left at N. Domingo, then right at M. Paterno, left at Bonny, right at Ortigas, and that’s where I got really anxious. It’s full-blown rush hour traffic at this point and the Q8 e-Tron’s battery dipped to just 9 percent.

Some local knowledge in the area helped so we managed to cut some traffic, but by then, our car’s battery started counting down. One traffic light left and a three-minute drive, but out charge was down to 8 percent. We were genuinely nervous at this point. Finally, when we arrived at the Audi Philippines showroom, with got back with 7 percent charge and 42 kilometers remaining.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have been fixated on the single digit percentage shown on the battery. Instead, I should have focused on the 42-kilometer range. With that much electrons left, I could have made it from Greenhills to Quezon City with 1 or 2 percent charge remaining.

Remember that this activity was done during an extreme situation. Imagine being in Baguio and finding out that the storm is coming in a few hours. Will you go to SM Baguio to charge, or head down now while there isn’t much rain? If you choose the latter, let me assure you that you can arrive at your home without a problem. As I said before, treat your EV like a phone in terms of charging and you’ll be fine. But when push comes to shove, the Audi Q8 e-Tron won’t let you down.