Audi is within the midst of an enormous mannequin line transformation with all of its even-numbered automobiles turning into EVs and all of its odd-numbered automobiles staying gas-powered. This shift goals to make electrical automobiles like the all-new Audi A6 and S6 E-Tron extraordinarily essential in its portfolio. Whereas it could be referred to as the A6, this mid-size liftback is extra of a alternative for the A7, simply with the addition of electrical energy.
No matter naming scheme, I discovered each the entry-level A6 E-Tron and higher-power S6 E-Tron to be compelling automobiles which are a welcome — and reasonably good-looking — addition to the mid-size luxurious phase, the place they’ll go toe-to-toe with the BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE. The 2 Audis additionally make it very obvious that for 95 p.c of driving, you do not want the sooner EV.
Full Disclosure: Audi flew me all the way in which to Tenerife, put me up in fancy motels and fed me all so I may drive the 2025 A6 and S6.
Gone are the four- and six-cylinder motors that powered the earlier A6 and S6. Of their place are both one or two electrical motors relying in your trim stage. Within the U.S., the mannequin lineup can have three energy ranges to select from. First, we’ve obtained the base-level A6 E-Tron. It comes geared up with a single motor on the rear axle that places out 375 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque and has an EPA-estimated 370 miles of vary. Audi says it’s engaged on a long-range mannequin with smaller wheels that may hit 390 miles, which might make it one of many longest-range EVs in the marketplace.
Subsequent up is the A6 E-Tron Quattro. That provides a second motor on the entrance axle to provide the A6 all-wheel drive, and it makes 456 horsepower and a 333-mile driving vary. Lastly, we’ve obtained the big-dog S6 E-Tron. It retains the two-motor setup of the Quattro, however with rather more energy. Horsepower rises to 543, however vary takes a dip to 324 miles. That’s nonetheless fairly stable, but it surely isn’t going to set any information. It ought to be famous that Audi hasn’t launched official torque figures but for AWD automobiles. These ought to pop up nearer to launch.
No matter motor configuration, the A6 and S6 E-Tron include a large 100kWh battery pack (of which a 94.4-kWh web is usable), and so they run on an 800-volt structure. The brand new A6 is constructed on Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Electrical that’s shared with different automobiles just like the Audi Q6 E-Tron and Porsche Macan. Audi says the A6’s battery can fast-charge at a max of 270 kW, and it’s capable of go from 10 p.c to 80 p.c in simply 21 minutes. It might additionally acquire about 135 miles of vary in 10 minutes of charging. That’s not too shabby in any respect. No matter which mannequin you go together with, you’ve additionally obtained a number of ranges of regenerative braking. You’ll be able to flip regen braking all the way in which off, choose one among two regen braking intensities or crank all of it the way in which as much as full one-pedal driving. I’ll be sincere, although, one-pedal isn’t very intense on this automotive. It’ll carry the automotive to a cease, but it surely takes some time.
Now that I’ve obtained all of these boring technical particulars out of the way in which, I ought to discuss how the A6 and S6 E-Trons drive. I’ll simply say this: Each automobiles are actually geared for luxurious over sportiness, and I don’t thoughts that one bit. I drove the entry-level single-motor A6 and the top-dog S6 — the Quattro wasn’t obtainable for testing and neither have been the Avants that we gained’t get in America, so don’t ask. Each automobiles provided first rate dynamics, however they weren’t precisely inspiring to drive. In line with Audi, the 375-hp A6 E-Tron obtained from 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, and it may possibly go on to a high velocity of 130 mph. These are each fairly good numbers, however I get the sensation it could a lot reasonably cruise down the freeway at Autobahn speeds than assault a nook.
Like most Audis, it tends to understeer while you come right into a nook a bit too sizzling, as I did a number of instances on the twisty roads of Tenerife. No matter drive mode (there’s Balanced, Dynamic, Consolation and Effectivity), the A6 E-Tron doesn’t encourage a ton of confidence in the case of efficiency driving, and a number of that comes from the adaptive air suspension and steering tuning. The suspension was reasonably tender even in Dynamic mode, and the steering was very gentle. Please don’t take this to imply I didn’t look after the way in which the A6 drove — I did it’s simply not a efficiency automobile. To me, that’s OK, as a result of the world is sorely lacking luxurious automobiles which are solely attempting to be luxurious proper now. Driving down the freeway with the superb adaptive cruise management and lane-keeping methods working whereas getting a therapeutic massage from the splendidly cozy entrance seats was greater than sufficient to win me over.
Sadly, a number of the A6 E-Tron’s driving foibles proceed to the S6. These two automobiles put in perspective how, 99 p.c of the time, completely different variants of an EV all form of really feel the identical. Years in the past, you’d purchase an S6 as a result of it had an enormous V10 engine versus the lowly six-cylinder of an A6, and that felt particular on a regular basis. Now, the one actual materials variations between the A6 and S6 are some barely completely different styling cues and a stiffer suspension. The steering remains to be far too gentle, and even with a rear-biased AWD system, the S6 pushes while you get right into a nook.
Nonetheless, this implies the constructive driving traits of the A6 proceed within the S6 as nicely. It’s nonetheless splendidly cozy on the freeway, that means it’s certain to be an Autobahn bomber with its 149-mph high velocity. To be honest, the S6 isn’t fully hopeless dynamically both. It’s very flat within the corners because of that stiffer suspension, and you’ll carry immense speeds because of the 21-inch Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires, although it’s nonetheless not very confidence-inspiring to drive rapidly because of the extraordinarily gentle steering. General, it drives reasonably nicely, however the S6 E-Tron isn’t going to be the sporty sedan (or liftback) you have been hoping for.
Contained in the A6 and S6 E-Tron, you’re greeted with the form of construct high quality and tech we’ve come to anticipate from Audi. There are two actual highlights within the cabin: the expertise and the seats. I’ve put my ass down in a number of automotive seats in my life, and these are proper up there with the perfect in the case of consolation and a sporty really feel. It additionally helps that they’re heated, ventilated and, in fact, can therapeutic massage your again. On sure packages, you even get audio system within the headrest, so it’s just about a Mazda Miata. Other than the consolation, they’re additionally well-bolstered sufficient that you just’re saved firmly in place going round corners. I don’t know the way Audi was capable of pull off such fantastic seats, however they’re just about second to none.
The opposite facet the place the E-Tron siblings’ inside excels is in the case of expertise. The focal factors are, unsurprisingly, the screens. There’s an 11.9-inch Digital Cockpit gauge cluster display screen and an enormous 14.5-inch infotainment display screen that should type some form of panoramic show, and you will get an non-compulsory 10.9-inch entrance passenger show which may be essentially the most helpful one I’ve ever interacted with.
All three work exceedingly nicely collectively and by no means really feel overwhelming, even when there’s a ton of display screen actual property taking over area within the cabin. Above all of that could be a big augmented actuality head-up show that may flash turn-by-turn instructions like a online game and hint the lane traces and automobiles in entrance of you while you’ve obtained adaptive cruise management engaged. It’s a extremely neat system, and I’m excited to see it pop up in additional automobiles.
The remainder of the inside is fairly nicely thought out as nicely, together with the squircle steering wheel that does a superb job of not blocking the gauge cluster display screen. My one actual gripe is the usage of capacitive contact buttons. They’re all over the place from the steering wheel and the management panel to the left of the driving force and on the middle console. There’s additionally slightly bit an excessive amount of piano black plastic for my liking, particularly on the oddly large bezels surrounding the screens, however these are simply small grips. Apart from a few different cheap-ish feeling plastic items, the inside supplies really feel very premium, whether or not you’re touching metals, soft-touch plastics, materials or leathers.
One thing else the A6 and S6 E-Tron excel in interior-wise is area. There’s a number of it. At 6-foot-1 I can sit behind myself reasonably comfortably, and since this automotive is a liftback now there’s a ton of trunk area. Audi says it has 26 cubic toes of trunk area behind the rear seats. That jumps as much as 40 cubic toes with the rear seats folded For reference, the ICE-powered A6 and A7 have 13.7 and 24.9 cubic toes of truck area, behind the rear seats respectively. If that isn’t fairly sufficient, there’s a modest frunk with 0.95 cubic toes of area. That’ll be greater than sufficient for a charger and a few different issues.
Transferring outdoors, the A6 and S6 are each very good-looking, although apart from some badges and wheel selections, it’s onerous to inform the 2 automobiles aside. Audi did a extremely good job of hiding a number of the automotive’s chunk with a facet blade that runs alongside the underside of the doorways. Up entrance, there’s a number of black plastic that surrounds the automotive’s “grille,” and it does a superb job of hiding the primary headlights. The sunshine pods above these are only for working lights (and they are often configured to completely different kinds relying on what you want).
Out again, it’s traditional Audi with a gentle bar and light-up rings, although the chunk is a bit much less hidden out right here. There are additionally eight gentle signatures to select from to make your A6 or S6 your personal. Up high, there’s an non-compulsory panoramic glass roof which you could swap up the transparency of, much like what Porsche has on the Taycan. Audi’s engineers and designers put a number of thought into how the A6 and S6 would slip via the air. The automaker says the automotive has a drag coefficient of simply 0.21, decrease than the i5’s 0.23 and EQE’s 0.22 coefficients, which is partially how the A6 and S6 get such good vary out.
One factor I haven’t touched on but is pricing. Properly, that’s as a result of there isn’t something to report but. Audi says we should always know extra nearer to the automobiles’ launch within the spring or summer season of 2025. That being mentioned, German costs are listed on-line, so we should always be capable of get some concept of what they’ll price. Earlier than including the 19 p.c German VAT, the A6 E-Tron begins round $52,700 and a base S6 E-Tron is available in round $83,600.
If it have been my cash, I’d go together with the rear-drive A6 E-Tron. Certain, the facility and efficiency of the S6 can be good, however the monetary financial savings and wonderful vary of the lower-tier automotive make it a tough argument to beat. A typical problem with high-performance EVs is that they really feel like lower-power automobiles in most driving situations, and due to that, I don’t really feel such as you’d miss out an excessive amount of when you simply go for the cheaper automotive.
The brand new A6 and S6 E-Trons are setting the stage for a extra electrically-focused Audi, and if that’s the longer term the model goes with, it’s shaping as much as be a reasonably good one. These automobiles supply a compelling different for the BMW i5 and Mercedes EQE patrons of the world, and I feel the Audis are higher wanting and supply slicker tech than both of these automobiles. Nonetheless, it’s not excellent. For individuals on the lookout for a German sports activities sedan, look elsewhere, as a result of these automobiles are actually geared towards luxurious over sportiness. I’m truthfully pleased about that.
