Audi A6 e-tron: your up-market EV estate has landed

Audi’s all-electric e-tron family has grown to include the A6 and S6 saloons, plus their extended-roofline estate versions, known as Avant. As you might expect, the new electrified A6 is comfortable at being both an up-market family car and an executive saloon, with headline-grabbing stats like 270 kW rapid charging and a claimed range of up to 466 miles.

There are three powertrain options available, called e-tron, e-tron Performance and e-tron quattro (the disregard for capitalisation rules is Audi’s own), and two battery capacities of 83 kWh and 100 kWh. The maximum charge speed is an impressive 270 kW for the bigger battery, thanks to the platform’s 800-volt architecture. That means a top-up from 10 to 80 percent can take as little as 21 minutes.

On paper at least, the new A6 e-tron looks like an impressive electric vehicle that is both handsome and highly capable – especially thanks to the long range and fast charging. In fact, the A6 has the second-longest claimed range of any EV on sale in the UK today, behind only the much more expensive Mercedes EQS 450+, at 481 miles.

Price and availability

Prices start at £62,500 for the base-level saloon, rising to £64,300 for the Avant estate version – which, given the smarter looks and slightly more practical boot, is probably the one you’ll want, despite its slightly shorter range.

Go for the fully-equipped Edition 1 model in Avant form with the e-tron quattro drivetrain, and you’re looking at almost £85,000. Upgrader to the sportier S1 and you’re into six-figure territory. The car is available to order now, and deliveries will begin in early 2025.

Design and interior

Audi says the new A6 e-tron is its most aerodynamic road car yet, and it’s easy to see why. The smooth front end is mostly covered by trim pretending to be a conventional open grille, while the sharp, shallow headlights give the car the futuristic look of a concept.

Those lights also pack a party trick. Dig into the settings pages of the infotainment system and you can change the graphic of the daytime running lights. There are eight patterns of pixelated illumination to pick from, for both the front and rear light clusters, giving your car its own look, and the S1 variant gets a unique light signature, too.

The rear lights can also display warning graphics, such as one to indicate when the car is parking itself. They certainly look smart – and I have honestly never seen so many strangers stare and point at what is otherwise a relatively normal car – but I suspect they’ll be rather expensive to fix or replace or you have a prang.

The rest of the A6’s design is broadly as expected. It’s a handsome thing, with just the right amount of surface detailing to make it smart but not fussy, while Audi’s colour palette should be commended too. Everyone will undoubtedly go for boring black or grey, but we like how lighter, brighter options of blue, white and even beige are available for those who want them.

Inside, the cabin is nicely appointed, with comfortable seats and a good driving position. The dashboard is home to a pair of digital displays, with an 11.9-inch screen behind the steering wheel and a 14.5-inch, OLED infotainment touchscreen in the centre, but curved towards the driver. This layout makes the passenger feel like they’re interfering whenever they change the music, but a third display – mounted directly ahead of the passenger – can be fitted as an optional extra, and is standard-fit on the Edition 1 model.

I like Audi’s use of soft fabrics across the dashboard and for the seats and central armrest, but am less keen on the glossy black plastic of the control surfaces. A door-mounted panel for the mirror and light controls feels on the cheap side, and its lack of individual physical buttons makes it tricky to use while driving, at least until you become familiar with where everything is. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I wish Audi would install proper buttons here, and also on the steering wheel, which uses glossy black haptic buttons too.

Audi has made some changes to its optional rear-view cameras. The position of the interior screens has changed slightly in a bid to make using them feel more natural. However, while I found glancing at the passenger screen felt quite natural, I struggled to shake the habit of looking at the camera on the outside of the driver’s door, instead of the video display within. It’s mounted too low, for my liking at least, and made me long for standard mirrors instead.

Rear leg room is good, with plenty of room back there for a couple of adults, and the boot is capacious too. Both the Sportback saloon and Avant estate have 502 litres of storage with the rear seats up, increasing to 1,330 for the former and 1,422 for the latter with the seats folded down. Both also provide an extra 27 litres of frunk storage beneath the bonnet, which will no doubt be handy for your charge cables.

Lastly, the interior can be optioned with a smart panoramic glass roof boasting switchable transparency. Although no longer a brand-new technology, it’s the sort of feature that still feels like it’s from the future, as the glass magically turns from transparent to opaque on command.

Range, performance and driving impressions

The Audi A6 is the sort of car that lends itself perfectly to an electric platform. It’s smooth and quiet, with a nice amount of torque and plenty of refinement. I can see myself spending many stress-free hours in this car – especially if that huge range of 466 miles is accurate. Unfortunately the test route wasn’t long enough to truly test that claim.

What the route did show is how quick steering creates a sense of agility, and helps to hide the A6’s weight. It’s enjoyable to drive, and I especially liked the augmented soundtrack, which makes itself heard when you accelerate but soon fades into the background, so not to become annoying. Some other EVs, which like to play their sounds almost all of the time, could learn from that.

Switch to Drive, then B to activate the A6’s regenerative braking system, and the car is dead easy to drive. The response of the accelerator is nicely calibrated, and so too is the regen braking. Audi claims that, for a whopping 95 percent of regular driving, the A6 will use regen instead of the brake discs and pads

As for performance, the base model has 240 kW (326 PS) and 423 Nm of torque sent from a single motor to the rear wheels. It accelerates to 62 mph in 6.0 seconds and has a top speed of 130 mph; the 83 kWh battery has a claimed range of 383 miles (or 361 for the less aerodynamic Avant) and it charges at up to 224 kW.

Above this sits my pick of the bunch, the A6 e-tron Performance. This produces 380 PS (280 kW) and 565 Nm, which is sent from two motors to all four wheels. It hits 62 mph in 5.4 seconds and also has a top speed of 130 mph, while the larger 100 kW battery is good for a claimed 463 miles (or 437 for the Avant) and it'll charge at a higher rate, of up to 270 kW.

Lastly for the A6 family is the quattro, which has the same battery as the mid-range car, but more power and torque at 462 PS (340 kW) and 580 Nm respectively, a 0-62 mph time of 4.5 seconds and a range of 417 to 438 miles. It also charges at up to 270 kW.

Finally, the S6 e-tron has 551 PS (405 kW) and the same 580 Nm of torque as the quattro, but the 0-62 mph time is reduced to 3.9 seconds and the top speed is increased to 149 mph. It has a claimed range of 405 miles (or 388 for the Avant) and the charge rate is also 270 kW.

Despite the figures, the S6 didn't feel as rapid as I'd expected, and I'm not sure if its air suspension improves the ride enough over the A6's standard-fit coils to justify the upgrade. There's plenty of shove from walking pace, but the rate of acceleration seems to tail off pretty quickly once you're up to speed, and makes us think the mid-range A6 e-tron Performance is the best option, given its adequate performance and huge range.

Should I buy the Audi A6 e-tron?

There’s a lot to like here. For drivers who want to spend £65,000 to £85,000 on a premium EV with lots of range and plenty of practicality, the A6 will quickly become the default choice – and not just because it looks fantastic in Avant form.

The huge range claim is particularly enticing – providing it can be stood up in real-world driving – while the ride is comfortable, the tech works well and there's enough performance for daily duties, although the S6 doesn't quite have the punch I was expecting. It feels like Audi is holding plenty back for a future RS6 e-tron that'll no doubt rival the Porsche Taycan Sport Tourismo.

For now, the A6 e-tron comes across as a very capable all-rounder, with good looks, refinement and huge range. First impressions are good, but now I can't wait to really get under its skin and see if 400-plus miles on a charge really is possible.