Audi Q6 e-tron

here’s-what-we-learned-driving-audi’s-new-q6-and-sq6-electric-suvs

Here’s what we learned driving Audi’s new Q6 and SQ6 electric SUVs

Audi Q6 e-tron, Audi SQ6 e-tron, car review, Cars, First drive / /

HEALDSBURG, Calif.—Earlier this summer, Ars got its first drive of Audi’s new Q6 e-tron on some very wet roads in Spain. Then, we were driving pre-production Q6s in Euro-spec. Now, the electric SUV is on sale in the US, with more power in the base model and six months more refinement for its software. But the venue change did not bring a change of weather—heavy rain was the order of the day, making me wonder if Audi is building its new electric vehicle on the site of an ancient rain god’s temple?

Of all its rivals, Audi appears to have settled into a nomenclature for its vehicles that at least makes a little sense. Odd numbers are for internal combustion engines, even numbers for EVs, although it also appends “e-tron” on the end to make that entirely clear… and give francophones something to snicker about. (Yes, the e-tron GT does not fit into this schema, but nobody’s perfect.)

The Q6 e-tron is also the most advanced EV to wear Audi’s four rings. Built on a new architecture called PPE (premium platform electric), at its heart is an 800 V powertrain with a 100 kWh (94.4 kWh useable) lithium-ion battery pack that powers a permanently excited synchronous motor driving the rear wheels, and in the case of the quattro versions, an asynchronous motor. The electric motors have 30 percent less energy consumption than those used in the Q8 e-tron, and are smaller and lighter.

That makes it a lot more up to date than the Q8 e-tron, which uses a modified version of Audi’s venerable MLB Evo platform, or the smaller Q4 e-tron, a somewhat disappointing electric crossover that’s essentially a Volkswagen ID.4 with a glow-up. That goes for the Q6 e-tron’s electronics, which are also a generation newer than the Q4 e-tron, and also more capable.

Audi is starting off US Q6 e-tron sales with a pair of models, the $65,800 Q6 e-tron quattro and the $72,900 SQ6 e-tron quattro. A $63,800 single-motor (not-quattro) Q6 e-tron will be available in time, with 302 hp (225 kW) and an EPA range of 321 miles (517 km), but we’ll have to wait a while before we get behind the wheel of that one.

Here’s what we learned driving Audi’s new Q6 and SQ6 electric SUVs Read More »

here’s-what-we-know-about-the-audi-q6-e-tron-and-its-all-new-ev-platform

Here’s what we know about the Audi Q6 e-tron and its all-new EV platform

Audi, Audi Q6 e-tron, Cars, Features, Premium Platform Electric / /

premium platform electric —

Audi has bet big on its next flexible EV architecture, starting with this SUV.

–

An Audi A6 seen in a studio

Enlarge / This is Audi’s next electric vehicle, the Q6 e-tron SUV.

Audi

MUNICH—Audi’s new electric car platform is an important one for the company. Debuting in the new 2025 Q6 e-tron, it will provide the bones for many new electric Audis—not to mention Porsches and even Lamborghinis and Bentleys—in the coming years. Its development hasn’t been entirely easy, either; software delays got in the way of plans to have cars in customer hands in 2023. But now the new Q6 e-tron is ready to meet the world.

There’s some rather interesting technology integrated into the Q6 e-tron’s new electric vehicle architecture. Called PPE, or Premium Platform Electric, it’s been designed with flexibility in mind. Audi took the role of leading its development within Volkswagen Group, but the other brands within that corporate empire that target the upper end of the car market will also build EVs with PPE.

Since SUVs are still super-popular, Audi is kicking off the PPE era with an SUV. But the platform allows for other sizes and shapes—next year, we should see the A6 sedan and, if we’re really lucky, an A6 Avant station wagon.

  • The Q6 e-tron is a midsize SUV, measuring 187.8 inches (4,771 mm) long, 78.5 inches (1,993 mm) wide, and 65 inches (1,648 mm) tall.

    Audi

  • That’s as wide and tall as the Q8 e-tron, but four inches shorter, mostly in the 114.3-inch (2,998 mm) wheelbase, which translates to a little less rear leg and cargo room.

    Audi

  • The “quattro blisters” above each wheel arch prevent the shape from looking too slab-sided when you see it in person.

  • There’s a small frunk.

    Audi

  • Most of your luggage goes here.

    Audi

Better batteries

There’s a new EV powertrain, a significant advancement over the one that powers Audi’s Q8 e-tron SUV. The cells are prismatic and made by CATL at a German plant, with a nickel cobalt manganese chemistry (in a roughly 8:1:1 ratio). It’s been simplified, with 12 modules, each made of 15 cells. Compared to the Q8’s pack, the new Q6 has 30 percent greater energy density at the pack level, as well as 5 percent more actual energy, despite a 15 percent reduction in the mass of the pack (1,257 lbs/570 kg).

It operates at 800 V, which enables very fast DC charging: The 94.9 kWh (useable) battery pack can charge from 10 to 80 percent in 21 minutes. Audi says it doesn’t have to throttle back from 270 kW until the state of charge increases past 40 percent, at which point it declines at a constant rate to 150 kW at 80 percent SoC. (Past 80 percent, a fast-charging EV will throttle back the charger significantly.)

Of course, that requires access to a DC fast charger capable of 800 V. For 400 V chargers, the battery pack cleverly splits itself into two 400 V packs using a mechanical fuse switch, then equalizes their SoCs, then charges them both in parallel at up to 135 kW. Audi says it went for this approach versus a DC-DC inverter because it saved weight. Both sides feature AC charge ports, with DC charging only on the driver’s side. Model year 2025 Q6 e-trons will feature CCS1 ports on the driver’s side, with the switch to J3400 taking place the following year.

  • A cutaway of the Q6 e-tron’s powertrain.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • A closer look at the Q6 e-tron’s rear drive motors.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • More motor components.

    Jonathan Gitlin

  • PPE EVs have AC charging ports on both sides.

    Audi

Here’s what we know about the Audi Q6 e-tron and its all-new EV platform Read More »