Audi A6 e-tron first drive | Welcome back to the club

Audi may be a late arrival to the electric executive segment but the new A6 e-tron was worth the wait. It beats its key competion on price and range, comes well equipped and offers rapid charging speeds.

Overview

The executive car segment has traditionally been fought out between three major players: Audi, BMW and Mercedes. For the latter two, in recent years, their electric models have lacked a key four-ringed rival.

The BMW i5 and Mercedes EQE must now welcome the Audi A6 e-tron into the fold. It’s the first electric Audi to use a traditional name plate. Although, confusingly, there is also a new A6 with internal combustion engines, based on a completely different platform to the e-tron.

Offered as a saloon (Sportback) or estate (Avant), the A6 e-tron follows the Q6 e-tron as the second of a new generation of models for the brand.

The slippery body benefits aerodynamics with soft curves rather than sharp angles. A distintive lighting signature helps draw the eye and includes an illuminated rear Audi badge.

The A6 e-tron is underpinned by Audi’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which was jointly developed with Porsche and incorporates an advanced 800-volt electrical system that facilitates rapid charging.

The line-up includes three trim levels – Sport, S Line and Edition 1 – and three powertrain options. There is also a high-performance S6 variant.

Pricing starts at £62,500, for the entry-level Q6 e-tron with a 75.8kWh (useable) battery. The Performance variant utilises a 94.9kWh battery, along with the twin-motor Quattro and S6 models.

Comfort and practicality

The A6 e-tron has slightly leaner dimensions than its key rivals, but it certainly isn’t lacking space on the inside. The cabin utilises a new interior architecture for Audi that is more reliant on the central touchscreen and features less physical switchgear.

There’s a noticeable drop in quality, compared to Audi’s last generation. The plastics and materials feel cheaper and less premium than in the last the A6. There’s also an abundance of shiny black plastic.

Audi has countered some of the cheapness by including plenty of creature comforts. The panoramic display housing the 11.9-inch Audi virtual cockpit and the 14.5-inch infotainment touch screen comes as standard, along with heated seats and leather upholstery.

The seats are firm but offer plenty of adjustment. Drivers of all sizes should be able to achieve a comfortable driving position behind the A6’s curious flat-topped steering wheel.

Equally, in the rear there’s a decent amount of legroom although headroom in the back is affected by the car’s sloping roofline.

Sportbacks have a hatchback, which aids practicality when compared to a traditional saloon. The boot volume is 502 litres and the rear seats have a 40:20:40 split fold. Strangely, the Avant has the exact same boot capacity, although it has a flat floor from the boot lip, unlike the Sportback which dips down. The Avant has the larger carrying capacity overall, however, if you factor in the additional space above the parcel shelf.

Both also feature a small storage compartment under the bonnet, which is useful for stowing the charging cable.

Safety and technology

Audi’s digital-first approach in the A6 e-tron means most of the main controls are accessed via the touchscreen. Where physical buttons do exist they’re mainly of the touch-sensitive variety. The steering wheel mounted controls, for example, can be pressed or swiped. There’s also a switch panel on the driver’s door with an odd array of controls, such as the lights and seat memory recall, which feels a bit like an afterthought.

We found the user interface to be relatively straightforward and were able to navigate the system fairly quickly. The setup includes sat-nav with a special route planner that factors in charging stops and connected services including music streaming.

A voice control system, powered by artificial intelligence, recognises natural speech and can be used to control many of the car’s functions, in lieu of using the touchscreen. This includes saying things like “I’m cold” to turn on the heater.

The digital instrument cluster lacks the customisation options of Audi’s previous Virtual Cockpit system, such as a full screen map display, but does provide clear and concise information. More impressive, the augmented reality head-up display projects information such as sat-nav directions and lane position warnings as if they’re floating in front of the car.

Adaptive cruise control comes as standard on all versions of the A6 e-tron, along with a 360-degree camera system. S-Line and above get a more advanced predictive system, which can adapt to speed limits, corners and when approaching roundabouts. It also includes a motorway lane change assist that is activated when you switch on the indicator.

Our test car, in range-topping Edition 1 guise, was also equipped with ‘virtual exterior mirrors’. These use cameras rather than conventional mirrors, with small displays on the door panels. In practice, they don’t work as well as regular mirrors. The screens are too small and you’ve got no perspective. It makes tricky reversing manoeuvres even more challenging. At £1,495, it’s an option we’d happily go without.

Drivability and range

The entry-level version is simply known as ‘A6 e-tron’ and comes with a 75.8kWh battery and a 326PS electric motor. It has a maximum range of 382 miles (WLTP) in the Sportback and 361 miles in the Avant. Acceleration is impressive, with 0-62mph taking just 6.0 seconds.

The Performance version has more powerful motor with 380PS and it’s larger battery (94.9kWh) provides a range of up to 463 miles (437 Avant). This version makes a lot of sense as it’s suitably fast, hitting 62mph from rest in 5.4 seconds, and offers incredible range potential.

Stepping up to the Quattro gains a second electric motor and a total power output of 462PS. Range drops to 438 miles (415 Avant) as a result.

Charging speeds of up to 270kW allow a 10%-80% charge in as little as 21 minutes, while AC charging is supported at up to 11kW. There's charging ports on both rear quarters, too.

In our real-world test, the Performance powertrain (Avant) achieved 3.4mi/kWh over a 100-mile journey. That’s enough for a 320-mile range, which is quite a shortfall on the promised 437 miles. Over nearly 300 miles, it returned 3.2mi/kWh.

The A6 e-tron’s suspension errs on the firm side, giving a sporty feel. It also has light and quick steering, giving the impression of agility. But it’s a heavy car. The Avant tips the scales at 2.2 tonnes and that heft can be felt in the corners. Despite its more potent acceleration, the A6 doesn’t respond to enthusiastic driving as well as a BMW i5.

Company car tax and running costs

The A6 e-tron is priced keenly and it undercuts both the i5 and EQE across the line-up. If we focus on the A6 e-tron Performance, in S-Line trim, it’s cheaper than both the i5 eDrive40 M Sport and the EQE 350+ AMG Line Edition while offering the longest official range by some margin.

Running costs are also the most attractive for the Audi, at 67p per mile over a four-year (80,000 mile) cycle. The BMW would cost 71ppm and the Mercedes 76ppm.

The A6 isn’t quite as luxurious as the EQE or quite as sporty as the i5, but with impressive performance, a long range and a high specification, it’s a very compelling option.