Audi A6 Avant e-tron Review

Introduction and model history

Welcome to the all-new Audi A6 e-tron. This big executive has a lot in common with the Audi Q6 e-tron that we really enjoyed earlier this year, including the same new PPE platform (also used in the Porsche Macan). In fact, I reckon that the Q6 e-tron SUV and Porsche Macan SUVs will be key rivals to the A6. I know that the A6 is a traditional estate or saloon-ish shaped five-door hatchback – called the Audi A6 Sportback – but if you’ve got £70,000-ish to spend on a spacious, long-range electric car for yourself and the family, the Q6 and Macan are as sure to crop up as the BMW i5 and Mercedes EQE that are the A6’s direct non-SUV rivals. 

It's not shy of some seriously good competition, then, but the A6 e-tron has a lot going for it. Not least, its range! The A6 gets two battery options; a 75.8- (usable capacity) or 94.9kWh pack. In the estate-bodied A6 e-tron Avant that we’re focussing on here, those are good for an official WLTP range of up to 361- or 437 miles, which makes this one of the longest range cars in the class. 

It looks butch and classy, too, in the way that most will want of a premium electric car like this; wide and with a good, confident stance and some interesting details – including the illuminated Audi badge at the back. D’you like that? I’m not sure, when it’s not illuminated and you see it in daylight, the logo just looks like a grey blob… Looks great at night, though. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment on Tom’s video on the YouTube channel. 

Range, Battery and Charging 

As I’ve mentioned, the Audi A6 Avant e-tron has a great claimed range of up to 437 miles, or 367 for the smaller battery, and if you go for the swoopy Sportback then that creeps up by another 20- to 30 miles or so.

Both the 75.8kWh usable (83kWh total capacity) battery that you can only have in the entry-level A6 e-tron, and the 94.9kWh (100kWh total capacity) pack that powers every other A6 and the sporty Audi S6 e-tron, are lithium-ion NMC batteries that promise good longevity and performance. 

You also get a heat pump as standard, which will help with efficiency and range in the winter. What is disappointing is that there’s no word on Audi offering vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging, or vehicle-to-grid (V2G). For a brand new, hi-tech EV on a brand new platform, that feels like a huge missed opportunity given that Hyundai, Kia, MG and Peugeot all offer V2L on cars that cost less than half what you’ll pay for the A6. Sort it out, Audi! 

Still, the range is great, and the charging speeds on the A6 are some of the fastest you’ll find. The smaller battery A6 manages 225kW, while the big battery cars get 270kW, for 10-80% charge times of around 20- to 30 minutes. You also get a Type 2 charging port on both sides of the car, in the rear wings where you’d expect a traditional petrol filler cap to be. Brilliant if you’ve got an awkward driveway, or for making life easy when you’re parallel parking at charging points. 

Practicality and Boot Space

The A6 Avant gets a 502-litre boot space, which is a bit underwhelming, to be honest. It does have a decent, wide floorspace that’ll take your double buggy or bevvy of labradors, but a BMW i5 Touring has more space with 570-litres and the VW ID.7 Tourer has loads more with a 605-litre space. Even the Porsche Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron have a bit more space. 

Still, you get rear seat backs that split and fold in a 40/20/40 divide, and can be folded flat from the boot just by pulling a lever; great for loading bulky items, or for playing practical jokes on your kids. 

Speaking of kids, there are three sets of Isofix fitting in the A6 – two in the back seats and one in the front passenger seat. It’s easy to turn off the front airbag and keep it off, too, so you could make use of that front Isofix regularly if you need to. 

There’s also a compact frunk that’ll be good for a single cable, but to get it you have to add the ‘storage and luggage’ compartment pack for £275. Seems mean, if you ask me.

Otherwise, there’s loads of headroom in the back seats, and while the floor is a bit high and could have long-legged adults feeling like they’ve got their knees bent upwards, most people will be very comfy back there. The panoramic glass roof (optional on every A6 model) actually adds a bit of headroom and makes it really light back there, too, and you can shade it in sections and patterns. 

Another very practical touch is that you can tow up to 2.1 tonnes with the A6 e-tron, making it one of the best electric tow cars out there. The retractable tow bar could be useful for rear-mounted bike carriers, too. 

Interior, Design/Styling and Technology

The A6 gets a new digital drivers readout and 14.5-inch OLED touchscreen that’s fitted into one, sleek, curved unit on top of the dash. It looks very cool and the graphics on that touchscreen are second to none, although I’d like the driver’s readout to have a more minimalist setting that just shows speed and range. There’s a bit too much information on there for my liking. 

I am being picky, though; this latest version of Audi’s MMI interface is easy to use once you’ve familiarised yourself with it, and permanent shortcut buttons make it easy to hop between functions on the infotainment. You get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, too, as well as over-the-air software updates. 

If I’m looking for other niggles, it’s be good to have a simpler shortcut to activate all your preferred driver assistance settings (although the lane-keep assist can be turned off via a button on the stalk). The haptic touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel can be annoying if you manage to accidentally activate something. I’d also say that the BMW i5 has the edge over the A6 for interior quality. There are a few brittle-feeling plastics around the footwells and doors that don’t quite feel as classy as I’d expect for a car of this price, although again – I’m being picky, and the A6’s cabin is a lovely place to spend time by any standard.

Motors, Performance and Handling 

The A6 Avant e-tron Performance that we spent most of our time in on the launch out in Tenerife is exactly what you want from an A6. The refinement is really excellent, even by the high standards of this class, and the car feels confident and easy to place. It all just gels nicely and feels intuitive and unflappable, with nice steering feel a good response to make it flow pleasantly on a good road. Does the i5 have slightly better handling if you want a more fun drive? Yeah, I’d say so. But the A6 is still really satisfying, and it’s not slow. Even the entry-level car gets 322bhp and will do 0-62mph in 7.0 seconds (6.0 if you make use of the launch control), but the 375bhp that you get in the rear-wheel drive Audi A6 Avant e-tron Performance is pretty ideal, I’d say. There’s serious pace when you want it, but it doesn’t feel scrappy and has loads of grip on the tight, mountain roads that we spent most of our time on. 

Mind you, I’d recommend adding winter tyres to the A6 e-tron Performance to help keep it confident and grippy even in icy conditions, as that’s a lot of power and torque to be going through the rear wheels. You could go for the quattro or even the Audi A6 if you want four-wheel drive, but they’re pricey and more about performance than all-weather usefulness. I do think Audi would be wise to add a four-wheel drive version of the more affordable, less powerful A6 e-tron models, as I suspect that’d sell very well. By the way, it’s still worth adding winter tyres to all-wheel drive cars if you drive in poor conditions a lot, four driven tyres with no traction is just as much of a problem as two driven tyres with no traction.

Now, how comfortable is the Audi A6 e-tron? Well, I don’t really know because all of the cars on the launch had air suspension, which isn’t going to be offered in the UK. Certainly, with this fancy adaptive suspension the A6 had a really comfy, well-controlled ride, but we’ll have to wait and see how it rides on the standard passive suspension that the UK gets.

I did have a go in the Audi S6 Avant e-tron, which does get air suspension as standard even in the UK, and is also phenomenally powerful and will do 0-62mph in under 4.0 seconds. It’s really peachy to drive; rabidly quick yet tightly controlled, confident and fun. Worth the circa £100,000 that it costs? Hmm. Not sure I’d go that far. Speaking of pricing, though…  

Running Costs and Pricing

The Audi A6 Avant e-tron isn’t a cheap car, clearly – in fact, the Q6 e-tron is a bit cheaper, which is worth thinking about if you like the Audi but don’t like the price. Or the VW ID.7 could also be for you, if you can stomach a less premium badge and experience. I actually think that the smaller battery car in basic Sport trim is all the A6 e-tron that you need, given the range of and is a much more reasonable price 

But, the A6 prices are actually very competitive on list price with key rivals including the BMW i5, and the BMW can’t match the Audi’s long range. The Mercedes EQE is also less practical yet more expensive, so the Audi stacks up very well within the premium electric estate and saloon class. Standard equipment is very good, too; even on the entry-level Sport you don’t need to add anything, although plenty of buyers will choose to add the Sound and Vision pack to get the Bang and Olufsen audio upgrade and an augmented-reality head-up display. The panoramic roof will be another popular option, but the A6 is genuinely a lovely thing even without those additions. S Line trim adds mostly style upgrades, but you also get a wider choice of paint colours including the intriguing 'siam Beige'. A beige estate? Yes, please! That sounds right up my (born in the '80s...) street. 

Edition 1 gets just about everything you could ever want and you can also add ‘virtual’ camera side mirrors in place of normal side mirrors. These help with aerodynamics but the standard mirrors are honestly the better and cheaper option. 

The standard three-year, 60,000 mile warranty is looking a bit underwhelming these days, given that Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Peugeot and Lexus all offer much longer warranties as standard on their electric cars. At least the Audi’s battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles, as you’d expect. 

A full charge from a home charger in the Audi A6 e-tron will cost around £15 – 25 depending on your electricity tariff, although you could cut that by more than half if you stick to cheap, overnight tariffs. 

Verdict 

The Audi A6 e-tron is a really excellent electric car, whether you want it in Sportback or Avant form. I wish it had a bigger boot, and that the frunk was standard, and that it had V2L charging… But it is still one of the best long distance electric cars out there – that range is really good, and will be enough of an incentive to have a lot of people picking this over the i5 regardless of boot size and other quibbles. Personally, I’d also have the A6 over the Q6 e-tron as I prefer the handling and the way the A6 Avant looks. We do need to drive it in the UK on the standard suspension, but for now I’d say that this is the new king of the posh, executive electric cars. 

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