Audi A6 e-tron Review (2024-present)

What is the Audi A6 e-tron?

The Audi A6 e-tron is the latest luxury electric vehicle to come from the German brand. Those who are familiar with the Audi range will know that the A6 is not quite at the top of the range: that privilege belongs to the even bigger Audi A8 saloon. But the A6 is the large executive that sits above the Audi A5, and even above the new Audi Q6 e-tron SUV. It’s currently the largest of Audi’s e-tron models.

The A6 is a flag-bearer for Audi’s electric car tech, with a new Volkswagen-Group ‘PPE’ platform that also underpins the Q6 and sporty Porsche Macan SUVs, and which also supports ultra-rapid, 800V charging.

It is offered with a couple of battery options, with the entry-level A6 e-tron getting a 75.8kWh (usable capacity) battery for a WLTP range of up to 383 miles, which is expected to be the biggest seller in the UK. The huge, long-range 94.9kWh lithium-ion battery is standard on the more powerful variants, including the rear-wheel drive Performance, and the all-wheel-drive quattro and S6 variants. This manages a WLTP range of up to 463 miles for the sleeker and sportier A6 Sportback e-tron, with its swooping roofline, and 437 miles for the slightly boxier Audi A6 Avant e-tron.

The styling of the new car is focussed on aerodynamics to help achieve the best efficiency, and gets some striking details including an illuminated badge on the back of the car, between the rear lights. We’re not sure that the A6 is particularly pretty, but it’s got presence and a good stance on the road, and is still unmistakably an Audi.

You can’t get the new Audi A6 with a petrol, diesel or hybrid powertrain: it’s battery-electric only.

How practical is it?

The A6 e-tron is practical enough, but some may be disappointed by the size of the boot, which is 502 litres (up to the window line and behind the 40/20/40 split rear seats) whether you go for the sleek hatchback (called the A6 Sportback) or the estate-bodied A6 Avant. That’s an alright boot capacity, but it’s nothing special. A BMW i5 Touring gets 570 litres, and a VW ID.7 Tourer manages 605 litres, so the Audi’s is a touch disappointing by comparison. Still, whether you go for the Sportback or the slightly taller boot of the Avant, you get levers in the boot to easily drop the rear seats flat, and a small frunk for storing a charging cable.

The interior is very impressive with a huge digital driver’s read-out and 14.5-inch OLED infotainment touchscreen all fitted into a curved, frameless housing. The Audi MMI interface is okay; the icons are big enough to prod easily, and there are permanent shortcut buttons for ease of hopping between key screens. The haptic touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel can be annoying, although they don’t seem too prone to being accidentally activated.

Generally the interior of the Audi A6 e-tron is very smart, especially if you add the optional panoramic roof that you can shade in a multitude of sections and patterns including a very funky alternate zebra-pattern. However, overall, the A6 cabin lacks something of the perceived lustre and delight that you find in the BMW i5. The plastics lower down in the cabin and on certain areas around the doors are a touch disappointing, given the class and cost of the A6.

Passengers are well catered for, with loads of headroom in the back, a centre rear armrest, charging ports for your devices and manual blinds on the windows. If you’re a long-legged adult then you’ll notice that the floor is quite high, and can have you sitting with your knees bent up, but for the vast majority of children and adults, the A6 will be a spacious and impressively comfy and well-appointed place.

What’s it like to drive?

The A6 is really excellent to drive. Not the most tactile, perhaps – we’d say that the BMW i5 has the edge for overall steering feel and organic response - but the Audi A6 e-tron’s steering is weighted beautifully and feels very predictable and enjoyable, whichever of the drive modes you’ve chosen from the standard Drive Select modes. The A6 e-tron isn’t a lightweight car, but the body is neatly tied down and it gels beautifully whether you’re on a twisty road or just winding through town. It all just feels satisfyingly hefty, predictable and well-judged.

It’s also very refined, even by the very high standards of the class, and is exactly the sort of delightfully unflappable, cosseting, peachy transport that you want of this lavish class of executive car.

However, this does come with a big caveat, because all of the cars on the international launch we attended came on air suspension which, sadly, won’t be offered in the UK. While the air suspension and 21-inch alloy wheels on the Audi A6 Avant e-tron Performance that we drove made for a very decent ride comfort, we’ll have to wait and see how the Audi copes on the standard, passive coil spring suspension that we’ll get in the UK.

As for performance? Well, even the smaller battery, rear-wheel-drive, 322bhp Audi A6 e-tron manages 0-62mph in 6.0 seconds. We drove the next model in the lineup – the A6 e-tron Performance, which ups the ante to 375bhp for a 0-62mph time of 5.4 seconds, and remains rear-wheel drive. An A6 e-tron quattro model brings all-wheel drive, 456bhp and will strop to 62mph in 4.5 seconds, while the range-topping Audi S6 e-tron gets a whopping 543bhp and a 3.9-second sprint time.

The Performance model that we drove is something of a happy medium for price and pace, then, and it’s likely to be a big seller in the UK. It’s got serious performance, but it arrives in a rather pleasing build of acceleration that’s not dissimilar to a powerful petrol engine rather than the huge wave of rabid acceleration that high performance Tesla Model S variants achieve. Even the Audi S6, which we also had a drive in, has very accessible performance that’s easy to enjoy, but not so likely to make your kids vomit over your (optionally) vegan-leather interior.

There’s an adaptive brake regen’ mode, plus three fixed levels including a one-pedal drive mode. You can also turn it off completely, and you can control it via paddles on the steering wheel for easy adjustments on the move.

Technology, equipment and infotainment

The A6 e-tron Sport is the entry-level trim, and gets 20-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery, heated front seats, three-zone climate control and adaptive cruise control. S Line is the next of the trim levels, and adds sports seats, privacy glass and fancier sports styling tweaks for the exterior and the cabin. Edition 1 tops the lineup (and is the only trim you can get on the S6). It gets 21-inch alloys, matrix LED lights, an additional 10.9-inch touchscreen for the passenger, electrically adjustable front seats and heated rear seats.

It's a decent equipment list, although the Sound and Vision pack with Bang and Olufsen audio, more powerful USB charging ports and augmented-reality head-up display is pricey but will popular, as will the panoramic roof, optional paint shades and various other style upgrades. You can spend a lot on options with the A6 e-tron, if you wish to.

Naturally, you get a semi-autonomous drive mode and all the safety features that you’d expect as standard.

Audi A6 e-tron running costs

The A6 e-tron is far from cheap but it’s comparably good value when stacked up next to the obvious alternatives. The A6 Sportback starts from around £63,000 for the entry-level Sport trim, and you’ll pay just under £2,000 to step up to the A6 Avant estate. The range-topping S6 is agonisingly close to £100,000, so you really need to want that performance and kudos to pay the extra. We’d nudge you towards the A6 e-tron quattro if you just want all-wheel drive, as that’s a more reasonable (relatively speaking) £75,000 and is still powerful enough to feel rabidly quick on UK roads.

That’s a lot of money but, nonetheless, the A6 is comparably good value for the electric driving range that it offers. A BMW i5 is very similarly priced yet manages 350-ish-mile range at best, a Mercedes EQE does rival the Audi for range but it’s a more expensive proposition and isn’t as good to drive. Mind you, if you can live with a bit less brand cache, do consider the VW ID.7. Sure, it’s not got the glamorous looks and ultra-rapid charging, but the ID.7 is comfy, goes nearly as far in between charges as the Audi A6 e-tron, has a bigger boot and is a lot cheaper.

As for real-world range, we’d expect to see around 260–320 miles from the smaller battery, and 300–380 miles from the bigger battery depending on conditions. A full charge from a home wallbox charger will cost around £15-£25 depending on which battery you’re charging and what your electricity tariff is, although you can halve that cost if you stick to a cheap overnight tariff.

Audi A6 e-tron reliability

It’s too early to judge reliability on the Audi A6 e-tron, especially as it sits on a new platform that’s only just gone on sale. However, as an overall brand, Audi came a disappointing 24th out of 31 manufacturers included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey.

The standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty is also underwhelming next to longer warranties from brands like Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and Lexus, although you can pay to extend the Audi’s warranty up to five years and 90,000 miles. Its high-voltage battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles, including loss of performance if the battery drops below 70% of the as-new range potential within that period.