Styling
It's obviously an Audi, it's obviously an SUV and it's obviously electric - but there's something strangely anonymous and apologetic about the Q6 e-tron. It's nearly 4.8 metres long, two metres wide and 1.7 metres tall, but it doesn't come across as particularly large or grand as you're walking up to it. The Q6's aesthetic case will be made even harder when the
next-generation Q5 launches, because the two of them look so similar that it will erode what little visual individuality the Q6 presently has. Our test car's Ascari Blue metallic paint, set of giant 21-inch alloy wheels and top-end Launch Edition spec help to give the Audi SUV some eye-catching punch, yet we can't help but feel a more sedate colour, smaller wheels and lower trim level will not do this piece of car design any favours whatsoever.
Interior
Another area where the Q6 and Q5 Mk3 will soon feel similar is with the interior finishing, although that's already true of the Q6 and its related
A6 e-tron, as well as the
artist-formerly-known-as-the-A4 A5. All of these new Audis' cabins are predicated on the 'Digital Stage', a huge, dashboard-straddling human-machine interface that puts the strong emphasis on touchscreen commands and haptic buttons.
To be fair to Audi, the overall set-up works pretty well in general, but the lack of physical climate controls is always an annoyance, while the Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster of the Q6 is far less configurable than the system you'd find in, say, the
now-defunct TT. Also, when a passenger was using the screen on their side of the dashboard, from the driver's seat we could clearly see what functions they were using; you wouldn't get that in any Porsche with the
optional 10.9-inch Passenger Display fitted, so we're not sure why the safety oversight is present in the Q6 e-tron. We're also not convinced by the huge switch panel that's mounted on the driver's door, which controls lights, door locks, mirrors and so on, and which will be a feature of all Audi interiors with the Digital Stage arrangement.
Still, like every Audi since (nearly) time immemorial, material quality inside is superb and so there's a solid, machined brilliance inherent in the Q6's interior that will no doubt wow owners within a few minutes of sitting in its comfortable seats. And a piece of tech we do like is the mega head-up display, which has augmented reality nav overlays and plenty of useful information easily in view of the driver's eyeline, although we're less enamoured with yet another example in the rise of something we can't fathom - the steering 'hexagon'. Harrumph.
Practicality
There's no issue with passenger space or storage cubbies dotted around the cabin of the Audi, while the boot is a reasonable 526 litres with all seats in use. It's going to be perfectly usable a roomy for a family of five, for example, but it doesn't reset any parameters of practicality when it comes to large SUVs like this.
Performance
The Q6 e-tron is one of the very first cars from the wider Volkswagen Group on the new and swish Premium Platform Electric (PPE). It took a while for this to arrive, but it underpins both this car and the Mk2 Macan, while the A6 e-tron is also sitting on the PPE too. And it's supposed to promise a whole new era of EV driving.
We've gone on at great length over the years about the flurry of (reasonably) accessible EVs that have appeared in recent years, which have goliath torque figures and stupid, hypercar-like 0-62mph times, which only go to serve up a rather uncomfortable experience if you ever decide to use full acceleration. On the flipside, people like electric models because they have that 'whoosh' of speed, so the slower and less-potent variants out there can feel a touch disappointing if they're no quicker than a modest turbo petrol.
The Q6 e-tron quattro is only eclipsed in this electric SUV's line-up by the monster 510hp SQ6 performance derivative, and an on-paper combined torque figure from this car's twin motors that tallies a colossal 855Nm looks promising. So does a 0-62mph time of 5.9 seconds, which ought to put the 388hp Q6 e-tron in the 'Goldilocks' zone when it comes to on-road performance.
But, in all honesty, it felt alarmingly blunt. Even in Dynamic mode and flattening the throttle, it never felt remotely quick and the 5.9-second claim looks precisely that, a claim. Of course, electric SUVs don't really
need to be road rockets, but it does make you wonder where all of that 855Nm has got to.
Naturally, the problem is the kerb weight, because this particular spec of Q6 e-tron is 2.4 tonnes on the money with a driver behind its wheel. And that leads onto woeful everyday electrical efficiency. We did 120 miles in a week with the Audi EV, almost all of that conducted away from motorways on the sort of roads that benefit electrics, with plenty of regen braking phases and steady-state throttle work in the mid-speed range. Our overall average pace was just 29mph and the weather during the week was cool, but not freezing. And yet the Q6 couldn't better a poor 2.2 miles/kWh. It meant that when it arrived on test, with 82 per cent battery showing, and then we DC charged it back to 80 per cent later in the week, both times its trip computer reckoned it would do considerably less than 200 miles to its remaining battery reserves. It left us with 74 per cent battery and a theoretical range of 164 miles, and for something claiming nearly 350 miles to a charge, that just seems terrible. At least the 800-volt architecture allows for quick replenishment times, but the twin, powered charge-port flaps (AC only one side, AC and DC the other) are annoying gimmickry - they take a lot longer to whirr open and closed than it would do with a conventional 'push-to-pop' item
sans motors. Double harrumph.
Ride & Handling
The PPE and 2,400kg kerb weight are, on this Launch Edition Q6, teamed to air suspension. It's a combination which does lead to a superb ride quality and a generally high level of rolling refinement, yet the Audi is not without moments where you can really discern the 21-inch wheels at all corners as they thud through larger imperfections in the road's surface, while on particularly rucked-up country lanes, we experienced a weird 'corkscrewing' sensation to the body control which almost felt like the electric motors were struggling to vector their torque properly, pulling the car gently from side to side. This trait reduced at higher speeds and on better tarmac, but it never fully went away.
In terms of the handling, the Q6 e-tron is fine but limited by its sheer mass. It's also another prime case study in the long-running collation of evidence that proves Porsche's engineers are operating at a whole other level to Audi's. It's almost hard to believe that the Q6 e-tron is almost the same 'electrical skateboard' underneath its bodywork as the second-gen Macan. While it steers well enough and retains enough control of its shell to adeptly limit body roll, pitch and dive, there's not much joy in hustling the Q6 e-tron along your favourite back roads. Instead, you simply revert back to a more gentle pace, which rather negates the need for the 388hp/855Nm powertrain, and also makes you greater lament the 2.2 miles/kWh electrical consumption.
Value
Our test car was a Launch Edition, which is a spec no longer available on the UK configurator. Probably for the best, because - as tested - it came in at a ginormous £86,440. Audi says you can create something similar by going for a £76,145 Edition 1 (nope, us neither; a Launch Edition,
and an Edition 1? What?!) and adding the Ascari Blue paint (£1,495), the Sound and Vision Pack (free until June 25, 2025, so move fast, peeps), the panoramic sunroof (£1,525), and the Storage and Luggage Compartment Pack including a frunk (£500, and that does mean you need to pay five-hundred notes just to get a storage area under the Audi's bonnet - tsk). But that won't save you an awful amount, as the resulting Q6 e-tron would still come in at £80,525. Essentially, while PCP deals and the tax breaks associated with EVs might mitigate the Audi's price to a degree, it looks like a heck of a lot of money on paper for a vehicle that isn't that scintillating to live with.
Verdict
With its German and Swedish premium rivals getting in on the act in this market segment, and with the wider move to all-electric motoring under way (whether successfully or not is a whole other discussion for another time entirely), the Audi Q6 e-tron was a totally expected and necessary addition to its portfolio. And, like many Audis, it drives in a smooth, proficient manner, has a top-notch interior in terms of material finishing, and it'll look great on your driveway thanks to the four-rings logos at either end of the body.
But it doesn't feel in any way like it significantly moves the EV game on at all, with unimpressive rolling efficiency, average kinematics, and a sometimes-irksome human-machine interface somewhat marring the wider sensation of living with a Q6. It also suffers with its links to the
Macan, which offers a far more edifying electric SUV ownership/driving experience in all regards, and what it reminds us of is the 'meh' feeling when Audi's parent company Volkswagen released the
ID.4 (admittedly at a lower market level) a few years back. In that, the Q6 e-tron is there, it's an option... but it's by no means the first thing we'd recommend to you if you're in the market for a plush, zero-emission, five-seater SUV like this. This is nowhere near some of Audi's best efforts we've driven in the past decade or so, and no mistake.
