Progress and technology are quite literally part of Audi’s motto, and those two words are the focus of the new A6 e-tron.
A key part of Audi’s transition to electric power, the new all-electric model shares its architecture with the new Q6 e-tron SUV but sits lower and is offered in a choice of five-door body styles.
There’s a Sportback sedan (liftback) and an Avant station wagon, and both come with lots of technology and big battery options to tempt buyers away from combustion-engined models and challenge the established premium EVs.
The BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE large electric sedans provide stiff competition, but Audi says it has worked on the chassis and the cabin quality to compete head-on with any rivals. To find out whether it really can, we headed to the Spanish Canary Islands to put Audi’s latest electric offering to the test.
How does the Audi A6 compare?View a detailed breakdown of the Audi A6 against similarly sized vehicles.AudiA6How much does the Audi A6 e-tron cost?
Audi hasn’t yet confirmed prices for the A6 e-tron in Australia, but it costs the equivalent of around A$140,000 in Germany, with the Avant commanding a premium of around A$10,000.
Those figures may or may not translate when the car is launched here, but we’ll find out more closer to the car’s arrival on these shores next year.
To see how the A6 e-tron lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What is the Audi A6 e-tron like on the inside?
Although so many car manufacturers are heading down the minimalist interior design route, Audi has taken a slightly different path. While it’s true that buttons have largely been eschewed in favour of touchscreen interfaces, the design is still quite busy.
It looks and feels premium, though, with lots of upmarket materials that all seem to be neatly bolted together. There are some slightly cheap-feeling plastics knocking about, including the cover for the centre console and the buttons on the steering wheel and the door cards, but they’re minor issues in what is generally a very classy cabin.
It’s a fairly roomy one, too, with plenty of space in the front and decent rear legroom, although it isn’t especially easy to fit your feet under the front seats. But headroom is the more limiting factor, particularly in the rear of the Sportback with its swooping roofline, where tall adults will find their hair grazing the roof lining.
The Avant has a bit more headroom, though, and if you regularly carry grown-ups in the back, they’ll thank you for choosing the wagon.
According to the official figures, they won’t have any more space for their luggage. Both the Sportback and Avant versions of the A6 e-tron have 502 litres of luggage capacity, which is fractionally less than you’ll get in a BMW i5.
However, the numbers only tell part of the story because luggage space is traditionally measured to the window line, and the Avant offers more space above that line than the Sportback. That means loading bulky items is easier, and there’s more space when the rear seats are folded down, too.
No matter which model you choose or which options you specify, the A6 e-tron comes with a big central touchscreen and a digital instrument cluster, both of which live in a huge, curved housing. Both screens look sharp and modern, and have smart graphics, but they aren’t quite as brilliant as we were hoping.
The instrument cluster doesn’t quite have the configuration options of the display in the old A6, for example, and the touchscreen isn’t quite as easy to navigate.
That’s partly because the touchscreen has so much work to do. The almost total removal of buttons from the dashboard means a huge amount of functionality has been delegated to the screen, including climate control and driving mode selection.
In fairness, the air-conditioning ‘switches’ are some of the most user-friendly touchscreen controls we’ve come across, partly because they’re always accessible no matter which display you’re using. However, proper buttons would still be more ergonomic.
The same goes for the optional virtual door mirrors, which are vastly improved compared with the camera-based system of the original Audi e-tron (now known as the Q8 e-tron). Audi is now using sharper cameras and positioning the displays higher up, putting them in a more natural position, but they’re still a bit awkward and clunky.
You can’t adjust the field of view simply by moving your head, and they play havoc with your depth perception, but thankfully they’re an optional extra, not a standard feature.
We’ve no complaints about the other screens available in the Audi’s cabin, though. The optional passenger display seems a bit superfluous at first, but it’s nicely integrated into the central operating system and its pared-back nature makes it slightly easier to use than the central screen.
LiftbackAvant wagon
And the head-up display is even better, projecting graphics across a large area of the windscreen, allowing it to superimpose turn directions over the applicable part of the view outside, and enabling it to pick out hazards to help with the safety systems.
To see how the A6 e-tron lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What’s under the bonnet?
Audi is offering four different battery-and-motor combinations for the A6 e-tron, regardless of whether you choose the Sportback or Avant.
The base option combines an 83kWh battery with a 240kW electric motor that drives the rear wheels, while the Performance variant has a bigger 100kWh battery and a 280kW electric motor.
Above those two models sit the quattro, which, as the name suggests, uses two electric motors to offer all-wheel drive, and ups the peak power output to 340kW.
And the range is crowned by the S6 e-tron, which squeezes up to 405kW from its two motors.
SpecificationsAudi A6 Sportback e-tron PerformanceDrivetrainSingle-motor electricBattery100kWh lithium-ionPower280kWTorque565NmDriven wheelsRear0-100km/h – claimed5.4 secondsEnergy consumption – as tested14.1kWh/100kmClaimed range – WLTP745kmMax AC charge rate11kWMax DC charge rate270kW
Unsurprisingly, some versions are more efficient than others, and some have more range than others. The base model will cover around 615km on a charge, according to the official figures, and that rises to an impressive 745km for the Performance version with the bigger battery.
Opt for the quattro, meanwhile, and the figures suggest a range of around 700km, while the S6 manages about 650km of range.
And when that range is finally exhausted, the 100kWh models will charge at up to 270kW, allowing them to recharge their batteries to 80 per cent in around 20 minutes, assuming you can find a suitable ultra-rapid charge point.
To see how the A6 e-tron lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How does the Audi A6 e-tron drive?
Audi had a chance to wipe the slate clean with the new A6 e-tron, and – using the same architecture as the Q6 e-tron SUV – Audi says it has been tuned to make it better to drive than the old A6 without being any less comfortable. And to a degree, the plan has worked.
Although the A6 e-tron isn’t the most exciting or engaging car on the road, it feels solid and stable, with predictable handling that makes it safe and reassuring.
The steering is a bit lifeless, but the response from the front wheels is smart enough and there’s a pleasantly linear feel to it, even if you don’t get much in the way of feedback. That said, the body control is good, keeping the car from rolling too much in corners, but it isn’t as level and planted as rivals such as the BMW i5.
That’s despite our test car coming with the optional air suspension, designed to offer the maximum breadth of capability and merge comfort with handling.
We don’t know whether air suspension will be available in Australia, but it does a fairly decent job of softening the impact of potholes and other imperfections on the road surface, even if it’s not quite perfect.
Because it’s quite soft and sometimes a little sluggish on the uptake, it doesn’t always sort itself out that quickly after hitting a pothole, and if it hits another bump too soon, it can get caught on the hop.
That said, in sportier settings, it tightens itself up and displays a little more composure over broken surfaces, even if the initial impacts aren’t soaked up as competently. The ride improves as the speed increases, too, with the A6 e-tron gliding a little more easily over cats’ eyes and potholes on faster roads than it does around town.
There are differences between the standard A6 e-tron models and the S6 e-tron, too, which is a little stiffer and benefits from tighter body control.
That means it feels a little more keen to turn into corners and a bit more stable when you drive it fast, but no version of the A6 e-tron really rewards you for grabbing it by the scruff of the neck. The steering never gives you the feedback that keener drivers crave and the car doesn’t have the agility and performance of a BMW i5.
Not that the A6 e-tron is slow. Even the base model gets from 0-100km/h in about six seconds, and the S6 can do it in under four. But neither of them feels as fast as those numbers suggest, despite the quiet relentlessness and immediacy of the electric motors.
The car bounds forwards when you press the accelerator, but it doesn’t feel as though it has found some previously unheard-of warp speed. It’s quick, rather than rapid.
But if it’s fun you’re after, then the Performance model is, in a weird way, one of the more exciting options. Unusually for an Audi, it’s rear-wheel drive, and that means hitting the accelerator in mid-corner will cause the rear-end to step out of line, albeit in a docile, benign kind of way.
And the brakes are impressive, too, despite the car’s kerb weight of more than two tonnes.
To see how the A6 e-tron lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What do you get?
Australian specifications are yet to be confirmed, but in Europe the A6 e-tron is offered in a choice of three different trim levels. Base models come with LED headlights, heated front seats and climate control, as well as alloy wheels, fabric upholstery and the digital instrument display and big touchscreen.
Moving up the trim levels to the S line version adds bigger wheels, privacy glass and sportier interior and exterior design cues, as well as leather upholstery and sports seats.
And if you go for the range-topping Edition 1 model, you get LED lights that can be configured to offer a choice of different signatures, with the tail-lights also getting dynamic light signatures that can adapt to the situation.
If you do an emergency stop, the lights will display a warning triangle, and they’ll show another icon when parking or opening the door. It’ll even show other drivers if they have pulled too close to your rear bumper.
Other features, including the passenger infotainment screen and head-up display, are also available as options, along with the virtual door mirrors.
Audi A6 e-tron highlights:
LED headlights11.5-inch Virtual Cockpit Plus digital instrument displayLED tail-light stripAlloy wheelsClimate controlDrive mode selectorCruise control14.5-inch touchscreen infotainment systemApple CarPlay and Android AutoSatellite navigationLeather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel
To see how the A6 e-tron lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
Is the Audi A6 e-tron safe?
The A6 e-tron has not yet been through either the ANCAP or Euro NCAP crash test procedure, but we would expect it to fare well.
Audi has come out with some very safe models in the past few years, including the Q6 e-tron SUV that’s based on the same architecture as the new A6 e-tron.
And although Audi Australia hasn’t confirmed standard specifications yet, there’s lots of safety equipment included in European-spec cars, including automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning, as well as all the usual suspects, such as anti-lock brakes and a full array or airbags.
Standard safety equipment includes:
Driver attention monitoringAutomatic emergency brakingLane departure warningParking sensorsSwerve assistAdaptive cruise control
To see how the A6 e-tron lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How much does the Audi A6 e-tron cost to run?
All Audis sold in Australia come with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, as well as an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty on EVs.
Running costsAudi A6 Sportback e-tronWarranty5 years, unlimited kilometresBattery warranty8 years, 160,000 kilometresRoadside assistance5 yearsCapped-price servicing0 years
The official figures suggest the Performance version of the A6 e-tron – the version with the longest range – will cover around 750km on a single charge, which is an enormous range for an electric vehicle.
Admittedly, that figure is reduced for the two-motor S6 e-tron and A6 e-tron quattro models, as well as the standard e-tron with the smaller battery, but all four variants are capable of impressive efficiency.
That means most customers will be able to do most of their journeys without having to charge away from home, and if you can do that, the A6 e-tron will be a cheap thing to run.
CarExpert’s Take on the Audi A6 e-tron
The A6 e-tron is not the most exciting electric executive car on the market, but that doesn’t mean it won’t appeal to lots of customers.
The range is huge, and it’s crammed with technology, while the quality and design live up to the usual standards set by Audi. The BMW i5 is still a better car to drive, but in pretty much any other aspect, the A6 e-tron claims the bragging rights, and that should make it one of the best cars in its class.
Interested in buying a Audi A6? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here
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