A round-trip drive to Baguio City from Mandaluyong covers about 520 kilometers. For owners of electric vehicles, these are the figures they need to consider should they intend to do a short jaunt to the country's summer capital to enjoy its fresh and chilly mountain weather as well as excellent dining experiences.

Whether on EVs or on their fuel-burning counterparts, motorists going to Baguio is a litmus test. The four- to five-hour-long trip will test one's alertness while driving for a long period of time.

The serpentine road going to the country's Summer Capital that starts from the town of Tuba in Benguet, will test your confidence in negotiating hairpin bends — not to mention overtaking slow-moving cargo trucks.

Long mountain climbs and traffic-free highway driving shorten an EV's driving range (much like how stop-and-go traffic worsens fuel economy of gasoline-burning vehicles) since regenerative braking is seldom engaged, but it's a different story once it is utilized.

Regenerative braking directs energy, normally lost through braking, back into the battery. That is why EV owners love stop-and-go traffic and driving down mountains when the act of braking is often used, recharging the vehicle's battery.

With all these to consider, Audi Philippines decided to put its P7.25-million all-electric Audi Q8 e-tron 55 SUV to a test by driving to Baguio and back to its headquarters in EDSA (Greenhills), Mandaluyong City.

The company claims that this is the first 100-percent electric vehicle in the Philippines to attempt and complete such a feat.

Audi Philippines never doubted the efficiency and capability of the Q8 e-tron 55 SUV as it has an excellent driving range of over 500 kilometers (on a single charge).

Equipped with two electric motors, the Q8 e-tron reinterprets Audi's legendary quattro all-wheel drive system. Output is rated at 408 horsepower and torque at 664 Nm, letting the vehicle accelerate from a standstill to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.6 seconds, and on to a top speed of 200 km/hour.