Audi Q6 e-tron: 6 big things you need to know
The Audi Q6 e-tron marks a major leap forward for Audi's all-electric design and technology
There’s a lot to love about the new Audi Q6 e-tron, so we’ve highlighted just some of the features that prove it’s an electric game-changer
Every story of technological progress has a pivot point: a transformational moment when the lessons learned in the early days of the journey come together in a way that adds up to more than the sum of their parts and takes the technology to the next level. For Audi, that moment is the all-new fully-electric Audi Q6 e-tron.
The Audi Q8 e-tron, Audi e-tron GT and Audi Q4 e-tron have all been exceptional models that set new standards for premium electric design and performance. But the Audi Q6 e-tron takes Audi’s e-tron design and powertrain technology to new heights – delivering more range, ultra-rapid charging, even more driving character, and even smarter more-intuitive in-car technology that makes every journey easier.
That’s why we decided to delve deep to find the six big reasons why the Audi Q6 e-tron is such a game-changer.
*Learn more about the all-new Audi Q6 e-tron*
*#1 An all-new fully-electric platform*
Underpinning the new Audi Q6 e-tron is an all-new chassis design that makes the Audi Q6 e-tron the technological spearhead of Audi’s electric future.
Called Premium Platform Electric (or PPE for short) that first ‘P’ for ‘Premium’ is pretty important. It indicates that PPE has been designed specifically to underpin Audi’s future fully-electric SUVs, saloons and avant estates – delivering even greater range, even faster charging, and even more compelling and agile driving character.
So, the Audi Q6 e-tron isn’t just important as an all-new model. It really does mark the start of the next phase of Audi’s e-tron story.
*#2 Impressive electric range*
Using the full breadth of learnings from Audi’s first wave of e-tron models, the PPE platform’s high-tech lithium-ion batteries and electric motors have been engineered to be more efficient in every way. As a result, the Audi Q6 e-tron quattro Sport SUV will offer up 381 miles of range on one charge from its 100kWh battery*.
It’s all down to a wealth of subtle changes under the skin. The chemical make-up of the batteries is more energy dense. Using just a third of the modules, and less than half the cells of the Audi Q8 e-tron, they’re packaged more tightly to minimise wasted space. The number and length of connecting cables has also been cut to reduce weight and minimise energy losses, while an integrated cooling plate and a fibre-composite cladding enhance heat transfer and insulation from outside temperatures.
Equally, the Audi Q6 e-tron’s electric motors – an asynchronous induction motor on the front axle, and a permanent-magnet synchronous motor on the rear – feature a wealth of enhancements such as silicon-carbide semi-conductors, square ‘hairpin’ windings and direct oil cooling for greater performance and efficiency.
Offering up to 388PS on the Audi Q6 e-tron quattro and up to 490PS on the Audi SQ6 e-tron as standard, the motors have also been designed to provide energy-recuperating deceleration for 95% of everyday braking, with a better balance of braking force from front to rear.
*#3 Faster, easier charging*
The Audi Q6 e-tron’s advanced 800V electric architecture offers ultra-rapid 270kW charging capability, letting you recharge from 10% to 80% in as little as 21 minutes**.
The Audi Q6 e-tron’s batteries use sophisticated predictive software that blends route-planning data from the in-car navigation and your driving behaviour to pre-cool or pre-heat the battery so it’s at the optimum temperature when you reach a charger, reducing the time needed to charge. The Audi Q6 e-tron can even use 400V ‘bank charging’ to divide the battery into two ‘halves’ with parallel charging up to 135kW.
Finally, when you do get home, the Audi Q6 e-tron includes two charging ports, with an AC charger on one side, and a combined AC/DC charging socket on the other – meaning you don’t have to worry which way round you park your car.
*#4 Standout style with added spark*
That’s all the pragmatics taken care of. But the Audi Q6 e-tron also boasts plenty of style to back up the technology under its sleek skin. If anything, this is Audi’s boldest and most eye-catching e-tron SUV design to date.
Building on Audi’s iconic ‘Q’ SUV proportions, and the adaptable base of the PPE chassis, the Audi Q6 e-tron reinvents SUV styling for the all-electric age – pushing the wheels out to the corners of the car to create short front and rear overhangs and a long wheelbase that only accentuate the powerful stance of its long bonnet and set-back cabin. The low taut silhouette roofline arcs down elegantly into bold ‘quattro blisters’ above the rear wheels that are more angular than on any previous Audi SUV, evoking the broad muscular sporty shoulders of the Audi e-tron GT.
It’s all enhanced by the uninterrupted light bar that extends the full width of the rear, connecting the ‘quattro blisters’ on either side of the car to the Audi Q6 e-tron’s amazing-looking active digital OLED rear lights.
*#5 Even more illuminating*
Audi has led the way for decades when it comes to innovative light technology, and the Audi Q6 e-tron takes that to the next level. Its game-changing active digital light signature enhances both the character of the car, and its safety.
Up front, the Audi Q6 e-tron’s slim Matrix LED headlights now boast 12 dimmable segments, with high-positioned daytime running lights that boast 61 segments. It’s at the rear where the Audi Q6 e-tron marks the most illuminating progress, though, with the introduction of Audi’s second-generation ‘active’ OLED rear lights.
Boasting three OLED tiles on each rear light and a total of 360 individual segments, the rear lights work with the integrated light strip to generate high-contrast 3D-feeling shapes and complex animations that can update as quickly as 10 milliseconds.
The front and rear lights work together to shape eight individual expressive dynamic light signature animations (with six more to come later), which you can choose from inside the car or via the MyAudi app. But they can also help you communicate with other road users, displaying warning signals to following drivers to alert them to upcoming hazards, or informing passing cyclists if you’re about to open the door.
*#6 Smarter and more connected*
When it comes to finally getting behind the wheel of the Audi Q6 e-tron, there’s a lot to love. Designed from the inside out to offer a more spacious and homely ambience, the bold horizontal three-dimensional form of the dashboard stretches right across the car from door to door. A soft-wrap architecture places high-quality materials closer to the driver and front passenger, while Audi’s designers have retained a centre console in the Audi Q6 e-tron for a wealth of convenient storage.
It all sits under what Audi’s designers have nicknamed the ‘digital stage’: a bold combination of three large screens, an augmented-reality head-up display and a dynamic LED ‘interaction’ light strip that work seamlessly together to create a new sense of communication between you, your passengers, and your car.
Let’s start with you, the driver. The Audi Q6 e-tron’s 11.9-inch virtual cockpit works with the huge free-standing curved 14.5-inch MMI panoramic display to provide all your essential driving, navigation and infotainment screens, while the augmented-reality head-up display projects key driving info so it appears as if it floats around 200m in front of you.
For the Audi Q6 e-tron, Audi’s designers have also thought about the passenger, with a separate screen that lets them support the driver with navigation, finding charging and selecting infotainment. Or the passenger can even enjoy their own video entertainment (kept separate from the driver using an active privacy mode).
The dynamic LED interaction light that arcs around the full width of the Audi Q6 e-tron’s cabin gives you plenty of options to add a warming hue to the car’s interior. But it can also communicate with you, displaying welcome animations, dynamically swiping to show your charging status, or flashing to show your indicators or driver alerts or hazard warnings.
It’s all powered by Audi’s most powerful and advanced software architecture to date, with five high-performance computers offering enhanced always-online connectivity for the Audi e-tron route planner to provide seamless navigation between your home, your destinations and any chargers en-route, as well as wireless over-the-air updates so that your software is future-proof and your apps are always up-to-date.
Equally, the software’s user-interface has been updated to be cleaner and clearer to use, with enhanced voice control that uses AI support to self-learn and interpret its more-than-800 voice commands, all based on your behaviour. It also uses ‘see what you speak’ interactivity to display what you’re saying on the screen, so you’re always confident it’s getting the message.
So, those are the six big ways in which the Audi Q6 e-tron is changing the game for Audi’s fully-electric e-tron design. Maybe it’s time to see them for yourself and explore a few more...
*Learn more about the all-new Audi Q6 e-tron*
* Maximum ranges vary depending on trim. For comparison purposes, may not reflect real-world driving results and based on 100% charge. Actual charging time will vary depending on level of charge in the battery and environmental conditions. See audi.co.uk for more details.
** Timings based on a 10 to 80% charge using a high-speed DC public charge station at the vehicle’s maximum charging capability. For high power 270kW you will need a charger in excess of 270kW. Availability of these chargers is limited to UK motorways and major arterial routes. Not in Northern Ireland, most of Scotland/Wales. Actual charging times will vary depending on various factors, including the selected vehicle, the type of charger used, the level of charge in the battery, the age, type, condition and temperature of the charger and the battery and other environmental factors.