Yes, it’s another day and another electric SUV we’re bringing you. At this point in the grand scheme of the motor car’s history, another one isn’t all that significant of a milestone. Things are a little different today for this new Audi Q6 E-Tron, though.
This is an important car for Audi, as it’s the first car sat on its new Premium Platform Electric architecture. That’s the platform that will go on to underpin every electric Audi for the foreseeable, including the upcoming A6 and any future battery-powered RS models. So, while the Q6 itself may not be all that significant to us, it does serve as a preview of everything to come.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – side, driving
Note that this is the first *Audi* on the platform, and not the first car. That honour goes to the recently-introduced Porsche Macan, of which early reviews have been rave. Consider the Q6 is going pretty much toe-to-toe with its platform cousin, and it’s going to have to be good to stand out.
First things first, it’s going to have to turn more heads. As is the Audi way pretty much since the first-generation R8, it’s trying to do that with lights. Similarly to the Macan, it’s running a split headlight setup but all of the focus is on those piercing daytime runners while the rear consists of 360 clusters of OLEDs. There are eight ‘signatures’ to pick from, meaning you’ve got a bit of personalisation in how you want them to display – which isn’t something the big-name competitors are doing.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – rear, driving
As for the rest of the car, it’s pretty much Audi as you’d know it. Big ‘grille’, slab-sided and quite neatly-designed. We’ll leave it to you to decide if it’s good or not, but we will complain about the red model badging once reserved for S models now appearing on everything.
Interior design isn’t exactly extravagant either, but again there’s one big focus – the screens. Directly in front of the driver is an 11.9-inch digital instrument cluster paired up with a curved 14.9-inch central infotainment screen. Both play home to new software which is more responsive and logical than older Audi systems, although retains a pretty similar design.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – interior
There is a lot going on in there, however, and it can be quite overwhelming to wrap your head around. Disregard the fact that climate control and the like are all in the system for a moment, and just switching the safety alerts off is ironically incredibly distracting.
This isn’t just an Audi problem generally, as EU legislation requires these systems to be switched on again once you turn the car off and back on, but there are frankly some unnecessary options in there and a nice big ‘off’ shortcut option for some custom settings would be very welcome.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – interior
In case those screens weren’t enough, your passenger can have one of their own too. Here they can mess around with massaging seat settings, control the navigation and music, watch YouTube or even check the car’s current steering angle for… reasons. It’s neat, will keep them entertained and is impossible to see from the driver’s side so you won’t get distracted by it.
The gimmicks don’t stop there. There’s an option of headrest speakers which work neatly for navigation, an LED bar which doubles up as ambient lightning and relays info about the car like which way you’re indicating or for lane departure warning. There’s a lot going on here.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – front detail
Interior quality is as good as you’d hope from an Audi costing at least £60k (until a slightly cheaper version comes, as is planned) and there are no complaints elsewhere inside. Visibility is decent, the driving position is commanding and those sat in the back have plenty of room.
Tech bleeds nicely through to actually driving it, too. Air suspension as fitted on these cars (although not immediately available on UK customer cars outside of the SQ6, for now) does a remarkable job of soaking up undulations and giving a cushioned ride. We’re yet to try the car on the standard-fit springs, so it remains to be seen how much, if at all, those compromise the comfort. You’ve also got a smooth-operating adaptive cruise control system, crisp surround cameras which make parking dead easy.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – front, driving
Really, the letdown of the Q6 is trying to have fun driving it. You’re pretty isolated from the experience and there’s no real joy to be found if you try to press on. Not that we expect anyone buying a Q6 would be seeking thrills, but the Macan will serve better if you are.
With that consideration, and not normally the verdict we’d deliver on Car Throttle, but we’d save some cash and ignore the 510bhp S or 383bhp quattro versions and stick with the current entry-level rear-driven car.
Audi Q6 E-Tron – rear, driving
It gets the same 94.9kWh usable capacity battery and with 359 miles of quoted range in its least-efficient spec, still delivers decent performance with 322bhp on tap and if you want one with all the kit, it’ll come in at £71,475. That’s £20k cheaper than the S, with the only real benefits the extra power and the inclusion of air suspension.
It may be worth waiting to hold off and wait for the upcoming new entry-level car. Specs are yet to be confirmed, but it’ll use a smaller battery although with a price expected to be around the £58,000.
The Audi Q6 E-Tron sets the tone of what to expect from PPE cars going forward. We’ll see lots of tech and presumably a continuation of the extra refinement, albeit with not a great deal of fun. Let’s hope that last point can change with time.
