The Audi Q6 E-Tron’s gestation feels prefer it’s gone on longer than it has. Maybe that is as a result of Audi started creating a Q6 mannequin greater than a decade in the past that was going to battle for share towards the BMW X6. Or it is likely to be as a result of Audi teased a hydrogen-powered Q6 in 2015. Or it is likely to be as a result of Audi was displaying pre-production BEV prototypes in 2021, when the battery-electric sibling to the Porsche Macan EV was meant to go on sale in 2022. Or it is likely to be as a result of we drove two extra prototypes six months in the past, pored over the brand new inside 5 months in the past, and really feel like we all know all of the essential bits. None of that issues now; ultimately, the medical doctors have induced labor, and Audi will formally give delivery to the factor on March 18.
A teaser picture posted to Audi’s LinkedIn web page got here with the caption, “Overtake your expectations.” That shall be troublesome to do, our expectations already set virtually too excessive to see with the bare eye. After our drive, we known as the Q6 E-Tron “about as satisfying as EVs get,” and “remarkably happy to turn into corners,” and “the most harmonious, satisfying electric SUV we have driven so far.” We known as its platform-mate Macan EV “Next-gen in every possible way,” its few drawbacks solely relevant compared to the ICE-powered Macan, none of which ought to trouble the Audi.
We count on two trims out of the gate, a Q6 55 E-Tron with 375 horsepower that may be boosted briefly to 395 hp, and an SQ6 with a gradual 482 hp that ramps to 509 for bursts. The Q6 is predicted to hit 60 miles per hour in below six seconds, the SQ6 in lower than 4.5. Decrease trims will observe, on wheels as small as 18 inches in some markets, in addition to an higher RS Q6 E-Tron trim, and a Sportback model. We have been led to consider vary will are available in across the 350-mile mark.
The inside performs fashionable tips, an 11.9-inch gauge cluster conjoined with a 14.5-inch infotainment display screen right into a single curved unit, plus a ten.9-inch display screen for the passenger that may very well be an elective additional. The subsequent-level HUD was designed to show data at totally different “depths” in area, making a extra convincing augmented actuality expertise by which gadgets proven can seem like as far forward as 656 ft. The ambient lighting, shaped partially by an LED strip ringing the cabin, not solely units moods, it number of animations communicates locking the doorways, mimicking the flip indicators, and conveying the state of cost when plugged in. There shall be energy for one’s ears, too, an elective 22-speaker Bang and Olufsen sound system kicking 830 watts.
Keep tuned in ten days for all the main points on how the PPE structure has been used to obeys the Ingolstadt mandate of Vorsprung durch Technik. The Q6 E-Tron is predicted on sale later this yr as a 2025 mannequin.
