When Rico Severino bought his 2023 Audi e-tron, electric vehicles were a rare sight on Philippine roads. Only three or four brands were available at the time, and as the Founder and President of the Philippine EV Community (a 60,000-strong Facebook page of early adopters), he knew exactly what he was looking for. PGA Cars was the only dealer that answered all his important questions, and so the decision was made. Three years and roughly 300,000 pesos in savings later, Severino describes his choice not as a luxury, but as a hedge against a world where fuel, electricity, and the cost of everything else keeps climbing.

At first glance, you would never guess this car is three years old. The e-tron wears a unique color, a special design he deliberately chose. It rolls on 21-inch wheels and notably has no sunroof, a deliberate choice that keeps the cabin simpler and the structure solid. The design has aged gracefully, still rivaling new cars on the market today. It is unmistakably an Audi, with the kind of build quality that makes the body feel substantial rather than tinny. Despite being a few years into its life, the car still looks fresh, and Severino is confident it will become a classic, a vehicle that people will still want even on the second-hand market.

Inside, the e-tron is a five-seater with room for golf club bags, and it delivers all the creature comforts one expects from a premium German brand. The seats are ventilated and offer massage functions, making long drives genuinely comfortable. The air suspension smooths out Philippine road conditions, whether on rough provincial roads or the occasional slightly flooded street. What sets this particular unit apart is its infotainment system, which still resembles that of a traditional vehicle rather than the button-less, software-defined displays of today's newest EVs. Severino admits he prefers it this way. It made the e-tron the perfect transition model for someone coming from a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle in 2023. And for a retirement vehicle? it checks every box: comfort, quiet, and a cabin that his whole family likes.

Under the surface, the e-tron is a performance vehicle. It produces roughly 300 horsepower with torque to match, and while that figure may not sound enormous on paper, Severino confirms that it is genuinely quick. The instant torque of an electric motor means power arrives the moment you press the pedal, and overtaking on the highway presents no problem at all. The car is all-wheel drive, adding confidence in varied conditions. Its driving modes include sport and economy, letting the driver balance performance against efficiency.

The Audi E-Tron’s range on a full charge sits around 350 kilometers, which Severino acknowledges is not outstanding by today's standards, but he manages it through careful planning and a gentle charging routine. He charges at 9 p.m. and finishes by 5 or 6 a.m., using only half of the available 32 amperes to preserve the battery. The battery management system, which he calls the heart of the vehicle, is top-notch, carefully charging and caring for the battery over time.

One area where the e-tron stood out in 2023 was braking. Severino notes that many EVs sold at the time were fast but consistently fell short in the brake department. In this Audi, he says, he has never once felt short on braking power. Combined with a complete airbag system and a solid, substantial body, the safety features give him complete peace of mind which is especially important when he brings the car to beautiful but potentially risky drives in places like Baguio.

Severino has put his e-tron through Philippine conditions in every form: rough roads, slightly flooded streets, and long out-of-town trips. He has driven to Baguio three times and to Pampanga even more often. He shared that his most memorable adventure was the Baguio round trip in 2024, a year after his purchase. He tested it out because "can it make it to Baguio?" is the first question every Filipino EV owner hears. In fact, the Philippine EV Community even runs a "Baguio Balikan" series, taking every reviewed vehicle up the mountain to prove that even cars with ranges under 200 kilometers can make the journey with proper planning.

The key to eliminating range anxiety, Severino explains, is a "confidence run". Connecting the distance you've traveled to the position of the range meter until you trust it completely. An electric car, he points out, is exactly like a smartphone: a software-defined machine. Once you understand it, the fear disappears. The cabin is silent, there is no vibration, and daily driving feels effortless. "When you drive one every day," he promises, "you won't go back to internal combustion engine."

Severino's EV journey began with a broader mission. A clean-air advocate and former president of the Motorcycle Advocates of the Philippines, he spent ten years as a barangay councilor in the 1990s, always thinking about what could help the people. His first priority was solar power. He wanted to save on electricity before buying an EV, because the two work hand-in-hand as an ecosystem. His solar return on investment took three and a half to four and a half years, and he has long since passed that stage. He now pays very little for electricity, and he urges every homeowner to install the largest solar array their roof can fit and to sign up for net metering, which lets the utility buy back excess daytime generation as non-expiring credits, effectively making the grid a battery.

The financial case is compelling. In three years of ownership, the e-tron alone saved him almost 300,000 pesos, with electricity savings far exceeding that figure. Yearly maintenance runs about 14,000 pesos, mostly a cabin filter and tire checks, because an EV has roughly 200 parts versus an ICE vehicle's 2,000. He has never replaced a brake pad or any major part. When a rare issue did arise, PGA Cars sent a truck, collected the vehicle, and left a loaner unit so he was never without a car.

For those not ready for a full battery electric vehicle, Severino points to the spectrum of options: HEVs that save about 20 percent of fuel, PHEVs that save around 40 percent, and the fully electric BEVs that offer at least four times the savings of an internal combustion engine. He believes price parity has nearly arrived, with many EVs now selling below one million pesos, and he credits AC Mobility's plan to deploy 1,700 charging stations in partnership with Shell and other gasoline stations for steadily erasing range anxiety. The biggest remaining challenges are condominium owners without charging facilities and acquiring permits for charging stations from the local government units. He believes in streamlining the process to make this dream easier to achieve. The EVIDA law and DOE policies are supportive; regulators should simply approve what is built correctly.

For Severino, the e-tron was his retirement vehicle, his way of choosing something that would delight his wife and make the family proud. He has no regrets, and he intends to run it for as long as it will go.

Wanna see more of Audi E-Tron’s beauty and power?

Watch the full review here: https://youtu.be/wX9IqBMVso8