Audi Q6 e-tron (prototype) Review

Introduction

Whether you’re au fait with the Audi nomenclature or not, it’s pretty apparent there’s a gap between the Q4 e-tron and Q8 e-tron electric SUV models. But that gap is set to be plugged by this: the predictably named Q6 e-tron. A premium SUV to compete with the BMW iX3 and the Mercedes-Benz EQC, the Q6 is currently just a prototype, but it promises customers great technology and performance, as well as the usual Audi quality.

The problem is that the Q6 e-tron's rivals are all promising much the same thing, and it’s going to have its work cut out if it wants to compete - particularly as it won’t go on sale until the beginning of 2024. But we've driven a pre-production version to find out exactly how Audi’s new key contender is set to stack up in such esteemed company.

At a Glance

The Q6 e-tron’s basic shape is, in a way, somewhat predictable. But the silhouette is quite handsome, with fairly clean bodywork and a big front panel designed to ape Audi’s trademark front grille. And there are some really cool tail lights with dynamic patterns that allow the car to ‘communicate’ with other road users, albeit in a slightly limited way.

Inside, the interior is cleaner than we’re used to with Audi, offering customers a selection of screens and the usual quality. While many of the controls – heating and the like – are now integrated in the touchscreen, there’s another touchscreen available for the passenger, and most of the important driving information can be found in the new digital instrument display.

Practicality is particularly impressive, with a decent-sized boot and a huge amount of rear cabin space. But even more impressive is the way the car drives. It’s hugely comfortable, even in sporty driving modes, and though that might normally mean handling suffers, that isn’t true with the Q6 e-tron. It handles surprisingly well.

But as with every electric vehicle, charging and battery range will be key considerations for customers. The 100kW battery under the floor allows the 55 e-tron version to cover around 370 miles on the official economy test, and longer-range versions are expected to arrive later. While that range might not be achievable every day, the Q6 e-tron should easily manage 250 miles between trips to the plug, as long as you don’t push it too hard. You can read more about official vs real world range in our guide!

Key Features

Among the Q6 e-tron’s myriad plus points, it’s the practicality that shines through. Not only do those in the front get a spacious and high-quality environment in which to while away the miles, but there’s plenty of legroom for those in the back, and headroom is good, too. It’s very easy to seat four adults in perfect comfort, even on the longest journeys. And there should be enough room for all their luggage, with plenty of boot space no matter how many passengers you’re carrying.

But the other big draw is the way the Q6 e-tron drives. Sure, our pre-production test car had a few foibles – the steering didn’t quite feel finished, for example – but it still handled tidily, with impressive body control and sharp responses to the accelerator and steering wheel. It’s comfortable,  with supple air suspension that allows it to glide over most of the bumps without paying them too much attention. It’s rare to find such an impressive combination of comfort and dynamic capability in one car.

Range & Batteries

For the time being, the only battery Audi has confirmed is the 100kW unit that will power the e-tron 55 and SQ6 e-tron models. Whether or not there will be a smaller battery in the less powerful models remains to be seen, but the more potent versions definitely won’t be short on range. 

Although the figures aren’t yet finalised, Audi says the 55 will be able to cover more than 370 miles on the official economy test, but the SQ6 e-tron won’t cover quite as many miles. It’s expected that less powerful models may increase that range, though, particularly if they come with the 100kW battery. 

Performance & Drive

Audi is yet to confirm the full Q6 e-tron range as yet, but we’re expecting a wide range of models, with ‘45’, ‘50’, ‘55’ and SQ6 e-tron versions of the Q6, as well as an RS Q6 e-tron model with even more power. For the time being, the only two we really know much about are the 55 e-tron and the SQ6 e-tron, both of which come with a 100kW battery and two electric motors. It’s thought the ‘50’ version might offer the longest range, but at the cost of power. Whether the ‘45’ will have the 100kW battery or two motors remains to be seen.

Whatever, no version of the Q6 e-tron is expected to be slow. The 55 offers up to 400hp in short bursts (it drops to 380hp over longer periods), and it sends the power to all four wheels. That means it’ll get from 0-62mph in less than six seconds. But the SQ6 is set to be even faster, with 517hp at peak performance and continuous power of 490hp. That’ll cut the 0-62mph time below 4.5 seconds, which is more than fast enough for any customer. The RS Q6 e-tron, when that arrives, is expected to offer the kind of pace usually seen in sports cars and supercars.

But while the Q6 e-tron might perform with plenty of vim and vigour, it’s still a remarkably comfortable luxury car. Audi still has time to fine-tune the suspension before the car hits the market around Christmas time, but we’d urge the German company not to touch the air suspension set-up. It’s supple and smooth, and it allows the Q6 e-tron to glide over the surface, particularly in its most comfortable setting. At any speed, it dismisses bumps as though they never existed in the first place. Even on the larger 21-inch alloys.

While we wouldn’t touch the suspension ahead of the on-sale date, we might make a few adjustments to the steering, which feels a bit light and vague. That aside, though, the Q6 e-tron drives impressively well. In its sharpest setting, the car feels very stable and there’s plenty of grip, which makes it more enjoyable to drive than most medium-sized SUVs. Yes, it’s still heavy and it does very little to hide its weight, while the rear-biased power delivery gives it a surprisingly sporty balance.

The brakes, however, are the most impressive aspect of the Q6 e-tron’s driving experience. Electric cars often suffer from their attempts to balance regenerative braking, which uses the motors to slow the car and charge the batteries at the same time, and conventional braking that uses discs and callipers. But by using a fly-by-wire braking system that sees the pedal control the brakes using electrical signals, rather than a physical connection, Audi has managed to balance the feel of the pedal, which makes it really reassuring and consistent in a way few other cars manage.

Charging

Audi is offering the Q6 e-tron with charging speeds of up to 270kW, which means the fastest charging points will be able to fill the 100kW battery at very high speeds indeed. Official details are few and far between at the moment, but we’re expecting the Q6 e-tron to offer similar charging speeds to the e-tron GT saloon. That means the fastest chargers will fill the battery to 80% in well under half an hour, although charging at home will take longer. Nevertheless, even a 7kW domestic charger should be able to fill the battery overnight without any trouble.

To find out more about EV charging, read our guide on picking your ideal electric car charger.

Running Costs & Emissions

Naturally, the Q6 e-tron is likely to be cheaper to run than your average combustion-powered premium SUV. But it’s at its cheapest when you charge up at home – particularly if you have (comparatively) cheap-rate electricity overnight. Public charging, on the other hand, is going to be pretty expensive. But with such good range, that shouldn’t be too common an occurrence for most customers. And those who run the Q6 e-tron as a company car will be able to take advantage of the lower Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) tax rates that come with electric vehicles.

Interior & Technology

Audi describes the Q6 e-tron’s interior as something of a departure for the brand, but the ever-conservative Audi cabin designers’ idea of a departure might not align with everyone else’s. The Q6’s cabin isn’t quite finished yet, but on current showing it’s cleaner and more modern than that of the Q8 e-tron. The usual combination of wood, leather and metal is, of course, in evidence, and the quality is up to Audi’s usual standards.

But what really feels new is the technology. Again, there’s still some finishing off to do, but Audi has developed the Virtual Cockpit digital instrument display already employed in other models as part of a huge array of screens. That screen, with its configurable displays, sits alongside a huge central infotainment system that’s enjoyed wholesale changes.

Chief among those is the inclusion of the heating and ventilation controls, which now live in a kind of toolbar at the foot of the display. That means you can change the temperature with just a single tap at any time, but we’d still rather see physical switchgear for the heated seats and temperature controls, even if Audi’s solution is one of the better touch-sensitive ones on the market.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of the Q6 e-tron’s touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel and the door cards. The glossy black panels hold multiple switches, and it isn’t always easy to tell which one you’re pressing, or whether you’ve pressed one at all. Given Audi’s ability to build normal buttons with such precision, it seems like a strange retrograde step.

But while those buttons may not be perfect, the inclusion of a passenger touchscreen might be a more appealing change. It isn’t clear whether the system will be an option or a standard feature on high-specification cars, but it’s likely to offer customers the opportunity to watch video on the move, as well as providing access to other features normally found in the touchscreen.

Practicality & Boot Space

Audi hasn’t yet confirmed the size of the Q6 e-tron’s luggage bay, but we’ve had a good snoop around and it’s hardly miniature. There’s plenty of space back there for a family holiday’s worth of suitcases, and it’s easily competitive compared with other luxury electric SUVs. Better still, it’s complemented by a small ‘frunk’ under the bonnet that offers the perfect place to store charging cables and the like.

More impressive than the boot space, however, is the interior space. Not only is there plenty of room in the front seats for the driver and front-seat passenger, but those in the back get acres of space, too. Legroom is perfectly generous – more so than in plenty of the Q6 e-tron’s rivals – and headroom is also plentiful. In fact, the room on offer is on a par with the Q8 e-tron.

Safety

Because it’s such a new vehicle, the Q6 e-tron hasn’t been crash-tested by Euro NCAP just yet. However, we expect it to get the full five-star rating thanks to Audi’s unquestionable know-how in this field. Both the Q4 e-tron and the Q8 e-tron have five-star ratings with particularly good scores in adult occupant protection.

And the Q6 e-tron is expected to supplement all that with bags of safety tech. There’s loads of the usual stuff – autonomous emergency braking that can stop the car automatically if there’s a hazard the driver fails to spot, and things like lane departure warning – but Audi has also developed features such as the new tail lights, which turn into warning triangles when there’s a hazard up ahead, thus warning cars behind. The lights will also change their pattern if another car gets too close to the bumper, and they’ll inform other road users when the car is parking itself or carrying out any other autonomous manoeuvre.

Options

Audi hasn’t yet confirmed exactly how the Q6 e-tron range will look, but we’re expecting it to conform to Audi’s usual hierarchy, with a four-tier range. At the base will likely be the Sport model, which will likely come with plenty of standard equipment, including the central touchscreen and digital instrument display. That’s set to be joined by the sporty S Line models, which are expected to offer slightly more aggressive styling. Then there’s the Black Edition, expected to combine the S Line styling with black exterior and interior trim. Finally, the Vorsprung model will combine the qualities of the others, but add extra technology and equipment.

Rival Cars

The Q6 e-tron is something of a latecomer in the premium electric SUV market, with several other models already having staked their claim in the segment. Chief among the Audi’s rivals, therefore, will always be the BMW iX3 and the Mercedes-Benz EQC. Both are upmarket products, with stylish interiors and snazzy exterior designs, as well as a basis in existing vehicles. The iX3 is much the same as a standard X3, albeit with rear-wheel drive and electric power, while the EQC (below) is essentially a rebodied GLC with an all-electric powertrain.

But the BMW and the Mercedes are not the only headaches for the Audi. The Jaguar I-Pace might have dropped off the radar a little, but it’s still a great electric SUV, and it still has a very premium feel. And then there’s the Tesla Model Y, which blurs the line between saloon and SUV, but does so to devastating effect.

Other brands are getting in on the act, too, including South Korean upstart Genesis, which has brought out the surprisingly appealing Electrified GV70 (below). And Porsche will soon reveal its take on the Q6 e-tron, with the electric Macan, which will be based on much the same underpinnings.

Verdict & Next Steps

It’s difficult to pass proper judgement on the Q6 e-tron before the full range has been launched, but the early signs are very promising. Impressive range is complemented by even more impressive quality, not to mention a really appealing combination of ride comfort and cornering capability. The final details are, of course, up in the air, and Audi will almost certainly make some tweaks before the car is unleashed on the roads of the UK, but first impressions are very good indeed. Audi planned to build a new class leader, and it looks as though the German brand might just have succeeded.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Audi Q6 e-tron

**Correct as of 05/09/2023. Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.