A few months ago, we saw a camouflaged version of a crazy lifted Audi Q6 Sportback e-tron. The good news is that it exists, and that prototype was basically what we see now. It looks super cool, too. The bad news is that, Audi still hasn’t said much about it, and the company has explicitly stated that it’s a concept. So we’re not counting on it hitting production, especially with one of its features. But maybe we could see something inspired by it in the future.
2025 Audi Q6 e-tron
Horsepower
422 hp (456 hp with Launch Control)
0-60 MPH
4.9 seconds
Top Speed
130 mph
Electric Range
276 -307 miles
It’s Packing Portal Axles
Yes, you read that right. Audi shoved portal axles under its electric Q6. As a reminder, portal axles feature a small gear set at the end to lower the output end where the wheels attach. Not only does it lift the car, but it also keeps the drive axles higher up, preventing CV joint from getting too extreme and risking breakage. With the joints not at sharp angles to begin with, there’s more downward travel available.
The lift itself is quite significant, too. Audi didn’t give a number, but it’s definitely sitting a few inches higher. Much of that is due to the portal axles, but also the enormous tires. The prototype we saw was on Toyo Open Country tires, but in these new pictures, it’s sitting on studded Venom Tires Terra Hunters. Unfotunately, the images aren’t quite clear enough for us to tell the size.
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There isn’t much else new that we didn’t already see on the camouflaged car. It has the gigantic fender flares, roof rack and chunky recovery hooks in the front bumper. We do see more lighting, though. A quartet of yellow off-road lights sit on the edge of the roof rack, and a light bar sits between the recovery hooks. The unique front bumper has the previously seen running lights on each end. Both front and rear bumpers are generally redesigned and probably afford better approach and departure angles.
No performance specifications were given, either, but it would presumably use one of the regular Q6 or SQ6 powertrain, which uses two electric motors for between 422 and 483 horsepower normally (both can produce a bit more briefly for launch control). It probably has the same 94.4-kWh battery, but almost certainly would take a huge range hit due to the roof rack, raised ride height and revised bumpers.
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This Would Be Great Inspiration For A New Allroad
As awesome as this Q6 is, it’s seriously unlikely it will come to production. Adding those portal axles can’t have been cheap, and tuning it to drive comparably to a regular Q6 on those aggressive tires and extra weight probably wouldn’t be all that cheap either. The market for an extreme version of a middle-rung Audi crossover is probably limited.
With that said, the car market is trending toward more rugged vehicles, whether it’s for the style or the actual functionality. Audi could probably find a sweet spot between the base Q6 and this concept with something like a modern Allroad. They could add a slight lift of an inch or two, a wheel and all-terrain tire package with a bit more circumference and more sidewall, and reworked bumpers combined with black plastic fender flares and cladding. It would basically be the same gameplan as Allroads current and past, be they A4 or A6. The cost for these more restrained changes would surely be less than the concept’s, and the appeal probably broader.
