Launching an electric SUV should be the safest way to please company car drivers especially if it comes with a decent driving range & a premium finish. That’s what the Audi Q6 e-tron is all about. We took to the roads in the 100kWh Performance model & discovered that it’s a big improvement on what came before.
PowertrainChoose from a single-motor RWD model with an 83kWh or 100kWh battery, or the AWD dual-motor Quattro version, also mated to the 100kWh battery
Charging speeds & powerFitted to our test car the 100kWh battery will DC charge at 270kW DC & 11kW AC & comes with 280kW of power. Charging time from 10–80% in 21 minutes is possible & is quick.
Driving range
On WLTP tests, the 100kWh battery Q6 e-tron will go on to 344 miles.
Outside
The front of the Q6 features narrow corner LED’s & a blacked out Audi logo with deep black air intakes down below. The rear has a more recognisable slim illuminated red light bar & black Audi badge, all finished off with 21” alloy wheels. Privacy glass at the rear, black roof rails, red calipers & Mythos black bumpers lift things further.
InsideDominating the interior are three large digital displays that stretch across the front of the dashboard. From high to left there’s an 11.9″ virtual cockpit located behind the wheel & a 14.5″ central infotainment touchscreen. Plus in front of the front passenger, you also get a 10.9″ display.As we’ve come to expect from Audi, the quality across the dashboard top, front, doors & centre binnacle is first class with some lovely soft touch plastic & piano black finishes. The only downside is that the piano black finishes have a tendency to highlight fingerprints, but otherwise we loved it. The seat fabrics were a Dinamica microfiber/leather combination with red diamond stitching & the standard black roof lining was replaced by a panoramic sunroof a great option at £1525 which really brightens up the inside..
InfotainmentThe touchscreen spreads right across the dash & as with most car brands, almost everything is controlled within. Good news is a permanent short cut bar at the base so you can easily adjust the climate & an excellent short cut button to disable some of the more annoying driver attention warnings located between the front seats. A block of 8 icons on the right of the screen also enables you to short-cut into menus such as infotainment, connectivity & electric functions. The graphics are clear & response to inputs is quick.
Driving modesA Drive Select button allows you to toggle between the driving modes; Balanced, Dynamic, Comfort & Efficiency, with a single gear change switch which includes a B regeneration option, sitting behind the electric handbrake. A large rectangle of haptic controls are fitted into the drivers door allowing mirror, seat memory, fog light & locking adjustments.
ConnectivityThe virtual cockpit is really nice illustrating your speed, drive mode, battery range, day, date & time all of which are clearly labelled & easy to understand.The flat bottomed steering wheel contains switches for the phone, heated steering wheel & also adjust the cockpit menu’s with the adaptive cruise control located on a separate left sided stalk alongside the lights & the wiper stalk on the right. A clever horizontal wireless charging pad sits in the centre binnacle with a clip to hold your phone in place. Connecting to Apple CarPlay was simple & fast with the B&O speaker system on our test car a real highlight. Twin USB’s are located within a small storage space below the touchscreen.
Cabin practicalityFront passengers are cocooned in comfort with lovely adjustable heated front seats. Forward, rear & side views out are excellent.In the rear, passengers benefit from separate climate controls, twin USB inputs with a fold down rear armrest. Up front you also get a decent sized glovebox, a centre console tray, decent door pockets & a twin centre drinks holder.
Boot
The Q6 comes with a really useful 526 litres of storage in a rectangular shape with all seats in place. Fold the rear bench down & this increases to 1,529 litres. The frunk on our test model had been replaced by a storage & luggage compartment pack.
Acceleration & top speedOn our Performance model 0–62 mph is achieved in 5.9 seconds, while top speed is electronically limited to 130 mph.
SpecsAll versions come well equipped, with the Performance featuring 3-zone climate control, car pre-conditioning, DAB, wireless CarPlay & Android Auto, a front passenger display, wireless charging, an electrically opening/closing charging cover, a heat pump, 11kW on-board charging, surround view cameras, acoustic & privacy glass, comfort suspension, a heated leather steering wheel, heated seats & 21” wheels.SafetyThere’s plenty including, Adaptive cruise assist plus, Adaptive cruise control, Autonomous emergency braking front & rear, Driver attention warning, Lane departure warning, Rear cross traffic alert, Front emergency brake assist, surround view cameras & a parking system with distance control are all offered.The Head-Up display is really clever, implementing extras when you’re on the motorway allowing you to keep your distance from the vehicle in front as well as adjusting the speed limits as you drive along.
Driving You’ll find yourself sitting a little higher in the Q6 than in the electric A6 e-tron, which means that unsurprisingly, it’s not as enjoyable to drive. Nontheless, it’s far better to drive than any other e-tron SUV for which Audi should be applauded. Being built on a specific electric floor plan certainly helps as the distribution of weight is so much bette than early e-tron’s.
The levels of brake regeneration can be adjusted using the steering wheel paddles, none of which are especially strong. Steering is pleasingly light at low speeds & decently weighted at higher speeds, a trick most others haven’t pulled of yet.On some local roads we tried out the different Drive Modes & whilst Balanced & Comfort aren’t noticeably different, Dynamic adds a tighter feel to the steering & accelerator pedal, with Efficiency reducing the power & calming things down a touch, which we utilised in town & on a longer motorway journey.It helps that the Q6 e-tron is packed with usable tech & plenty of friendly extras with the November cold spell giving us a chance to utilise the heated seats, steering wheel & windscreen.
This electric Audi is also a pleasure to drive & coupled to the claimed battery range’s on offer, will go further than key rivals such a the BMW iX3 & Mercedes Benz EQC. It’s also a return to form for Audi’s build quality, which is better than in earlier e-tron models we’ve driven. There’s no way we’d pick an EQC over the Q6 & the iX3 which arguably handles slightly better, but doesn’t go as far.Real world drivingWhen fully charged our Performance test car illustrated a driving range of 278 miles & we averaged 3.1 miles/kWh, which is some way shy of the claimed. We’re sure that in warmer weather & by utilising regeneration & Efficiency mode, 300 miles is infinitely achievable.
ProsExcellent build quality, attractive looks & a superior driving range lift the Q6 e-tron higher than any previous electric Audi SUV & plenty of others.
ConsDriving range likely to be 300 miles.
VerdictThe wait is over, this is the best electric Audi SUV by some way. Not only does the Q6 e-tron come with a class-leading range, it’s almost as good to drive as an iX3. Furtermmoire it’s been beautifully put together & is easy on the eye too. We’d be surprised if the 100kWh Performance model delivered more than a 300 mile range & the A6-e-tron drives better. Otherwise it’s an upward curve for Audi.
4/5
