Audi A3 Sportback e-tron

Meet Audi’s first plug-in hybrid, capable of 176mpg – and 137mph.

A hybrid version of Audi’s 2014 World Car of the Year will be available to order from August, priced from £34,950.

First UK customer deliveries of the long-awaited five-door hatchback are expected in January 2015.

The e-tron combines a conventional 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine with a 75kw electric motor to deliver 0-62mph sprint of 7.6 seconds.

It’s capable of travelling at up to 80mph for up to 31 miles under pure electric power, giving a total range of up to 584 miles.

In other words, if your daily commute is less than 31 miles or it’s twice that and you can recharge at work, then in theory it will cost you nothing in petrol.

Alternatively, the hybrid mode brings both units into play, and the driver can choose to run these simultaneously – a function known as ‘boosting’ – by initiating kickdown by the S tronic transmission.

Using a domestic socket, Audi claims it will take four hours to fully charge the battery. When a wallbox is connected or a public charge point is used the time is nearer two hours 15 minutes.

The Audi A3 Sportback e-tron emits just 37g/km of CO2, making it free to tax.