Driving the 2015 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, the plugged-in European wagon

There are plenty of excuses for not considering a hybrid when buying a new car – some legit, some not so much. My personal favorite has long been “If it only performed like the gas-powered model" — that is, until I test drove the new 2015 Audi A3 Sportback e-tron in the Bavarian Alps a few weeks ago.

Now I think that excuse sounds dumb.

Hybrids and electric cars account for only a small proportion of new vehicle sales — a little more than 3 percent market share or 495,685 of the total 15.5 million U.S. passenger vehicles sold in 2013. The plug-in subset, which includes the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, and Tesla Model S, has even smaller market share, less than 1 percent of all vehicles sold, or just over 96,000. Consumers like the idea fo clean energy vehicles but aren't buying them en masse.

Those benefits come at the cost of performance. Typically speaking, gas-electrics lack the power and handling prowess of their internal combustion engine equipped counterparts. But now there is an exception to the rule: The A3 Sportback e-tron, Audi's first plug-in hybrid.

Visually, the A3 has the strong, compact dimensions of the sedan with a well-proportioned roofline and hatch. Even up close and personal, you’d have a hard time distinguishing this plug-in hybrid electric from the outgoing diesel-powered A3 Sportback. Lucky you won’t have to after this year: All Sportbacks will be e-trons starting in 2015; the configuration is reserved only for PHEVs.

Look closely, however, and you will find slight differences. The grille surround is matte black with 14 horizontal bars and forked chrome struts spread across the air inlets. The car comes with more aero-friendly 19-inch alloy wheels. And, the exhaust pipes have been hidden to reinforce the cars environmentally-friendly intent.

In addition, the four rings mounted in the center of the grille slide to the side to reveal the vehicle’s charging port. Just unhook the four rings logo, and plug in: from an industrial power outlet, it'll take two hours or three hours and 45 minutes from a European household plug. (Audi wouldn’t say how long it will take here in the States.)

Inside, changes include a new gauge cluster that displays status of powertrain, battery charge level and energy use, as well as a button on the dash that toggles between the various hybrid modes, from pure EV to automatic to hybrid charge (the engine feeds the battery) and hybrid hold (battery charge is preserved until the A3 gets off the freeways and encounters urban driving).

A slick LCD rises out of the center of the dashboard to handle navigation, infotainment and other secondary systems. It’s controlled via a BMW iDrive-style touch rotary knob, located on the center console just behind of the shifter, keeping switchgear to a minimum. There also a smartphone app to monitor the e-tron’s state of charge and to determine when battery charging starts, as well as preheating/cooling the car.

Otherwise, it’s more of the same. Passenger space upfront is good and the seats are supportive yet comfortable like the sedan. But legroom and headroom in the rear is quite tight. And as we’ve come to expect from Audi, the interior materials and craftsmanship is topnotch.

Under the hood, Audi engineers paired a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 150 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque with a 75-kW electric motor. Combined the duo produces 204 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, enough power to propel the 3,471-pound e-tron to 62 mph in 7.6 seconds, and on to a top speed of 140 mph. Top speed in EV mode is 81 mph. Range on pure electricity is only 31 miles, but the car has an overall travel distance of 585 miles.

The 8.8 kW lithium-ion battery pack that powers the A3’s electric motor is wedged under the rear seats, so there’s no noticeable penalty in terms of the cargo room like in other hybrids. The 276-lb battery pack of 96 lithium-ion cells has its own liquid cooling system, which ensures power even when the weather is too hot or too cold.

As far as emissions are concerned, Audi claims the e-tron returns a CO2 equivalent of just 35g/km, or less than a plug-in Toyota Prius. Although fuel efficiency ratings for the U.S. were not disclosed, the automaker expects them to be somewhere north of 100 equivalent miles per gallon.

Starting our journey from Vienna, Austria, to Munich, Germany in EV mode, I couldn’t help but notice the electric motor was nearly silent and the power delivery incredibly smooth . The electric motor shined in the urban surroundings. The TFSI only triggered with a mild roar when the battery was drained, or when I was a little liberal with the throttle — but the shift from motor to engine is heard rather than felt, even under the hard acceleration.

Aside from pure EV mode and auto hybrid mode, there is also a hold mode that saves the battery charge for driving in congested or low-speed areas and a regeneration mode that uses more aggressive regenerative braking to restore the battery’s charge. The regenerative braking is effected on the driveline, and Audi has done an impressive job developing a special brake controller that governs the transition from regenerative driveline braking to traditional hydraulic brakes at the wheel. The switch is virtually undetectable.

By the time we exited the autobahn and headed into the winding hills that connect Vienna with Munich, I was driving in hybrid mode with a drained battery. I expected it to feel a little tubby and slow to respond, what with its 700-lb weight gain over a stock A3. Surprisingly, the 1.4-liter TFSI handled the sinuous roads with aplomb and grace, in part because the extra weight is distributed so well. Front-rear balance in the e-tron is said to be 55/45 (as opposed to 60/40), or almost perfect. Under throttle and around corners, it shows. The car is nimble and grips the road better than ever, even in the rain.

While the steering is responsive, it still rather numb, same as any other A3. But Audi’s Drive Select, which allows you to tailor steering weight and engine ‘tune’ to more aggressive, sporty preferences, helps. (Something the sedan does not have.)

During our seven-hour trip, the car’s computer said that we average about 39 real world miles per gallon and ran in zero emission mode 69 percent of the time. The car is comfy, ride is sporty yet refined, and there’s plenty of power on demand. For me, the deciding factor will be price, which has yet to be determined. However, it was hinted the sticker would might land somewhere around $41,000 — almost $10,000 greater the gas-powered model.

While not all hybrids and electric vehicles are created equal, this particular plug-in hybrid-electric performs just as good as, if not better in some situations, than its gas- and diesel-powered cousins, a feat that, to my knowledge, has not yet been accomplished by any other hybrid, plug-in or otherwise. The payoff for buying a plug-in like the A3 Sportback e-tron might involve more than just counting pennies at the pump. How much are you willing to pay for that good-to-be-green feeling?