Audi Q6 e-tron review

Believe it or not, the Audi Q6 e-tron is the first all-new Audi in more than three years. That’s a decidedly barren spell for Britain’s third biggest car brand.

The Q6 e-tron's arrival is merely the first drop of a monsoon of new models due over the next 12 months, but it's arguably the most important. Why? Well, for one thing it's an SUV and for another it's a fully electric car.

The German brand has a couple of electric SUVs in its ranks already, and the Q6 slots – as you might expect – above the Audi Q4 e-tron and below the Audi Q8 e-tron. You could think of the Q6 e-tron as a battery-powered Audi Q5 but the two cars are completely unrelated mechanically.

In fact, the Q6 e-tron's closest relative is the Porsche Macan Electric. They have been co-developed on all-new underpinnings, but while the Macan has been tuned for sporty handling, the Q6 e-tron has been designed to excel at comfort and long-distance cruising.

But how well does it do that compared with the best electric SUV rivals, including the BMW iX3, the Mercedes EQE SUV and the Tesla Model Y? Read on to find out...

The term Q-car was used for sensible-looking models with rapid performance long before Audi started building Q-badged SUVs, but it’s rather appropriate for the Q6 e-tron. You see, it's surprisingly quick for what looks like a sensible 4x4 – the quattro model we've tested is officially capable of 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds.

Because of how smooth and quiet the Q6 is on the move, acceleration never feels as fast as those numbers suggest. You’re aware of the scenery flying by at an increasingly rapid rate, but it’s more like being in a passenger jet taking off than putting your foot down in a sports car.

Indeed, we can see why you might want to wait for the cheaper single-motor version due later in the year. Called the Performance, it will have one electric motor driving its rear wheels, rather than the two the quattro gets, but still promises a 0-62mph time of 6.6 seconds.

Another reason you might want to wait for the Q6 e-tron Performance is range. While it has the same 94.9kWh usable capacity battery as the quattro, which has an official range of up to 382 miles, it's a lighter car, and can officially manage up to 393 miles.

We’ve already touched on how smooth and quiet the Q6 e-tron is on the move, and we’re not just talking about the way the electric motors deliver their power. Even at motorway speeds, there’s very little road and wind noise, and ride comfort is seriously impressive. It positively wafts along at high speeds, in a manner not dissimilar to the flagship Audi Q8 e-tron.

The suspension does a fantastic job of smoothing over scars and ridges at low speeds, and overall the Q6 e-tron is comfier than its closest rivals, the BMW iX3 and Mercedes EQE SUV. The Tesla Model Y – which is cheaper – almost seems like a horse-drawn carriage in comparison, as it bounces along the road.

Given its brief, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that this isn’t the most agile or engaging electric SUV to drive quickly. Put simply, an iX3 is more fun and lighter on its toes.

That said, ask the Q6 e-tron to get you from A to B (where B is at the other end of a mountain road) and it will do so calmly and quickly. You’ll notice quite a bit of body lean through tighter bends and a remoteness to the steering, but you always trust that the car will go exactly where you point it.

What’s more, the regenerative braking system is really well judged. An adaptive setting automatically adjusts how quickly the car slows down when you lift off the accelerator pedal, depending on the behaviour of the car in front and the layout of the road ahead. You can override it by pulling paddles behind the steering wheel, and the brake pedal gives far smoother and more predictable slowing power than the spongy one in an EQE SUV.

If you’ve owned an Audi model that was launched before about 2018, you’ll have been lucky enough to enjoy outstanding build quality and a mix of classy interior materials that put models from rival manufacturers to shame. If you’re hoping for the same with the Q6 e-tron, you’ll be a little disappointed.

These things are relative of course, and the interior does look really swish, with dramatic ambient lighting and up to three big screens. It’s just a shame that while the dashboard is covered by either faux leather or suede, the hard and hollow plastic underneath is very obvious when you touch it. 

Likewise, the tops of the doors are covered in a thin layer of squidgy plastic, which is certainly better than nothing. However, the attempt is more in line with the efforts of Kia or Land Rover than BMW – or, indeed, the team in charge of Audi interiors a few years ago.

The driving position is tough to fault though. You feel like you’re in a big SUV, hovering high above the road with a penthouse view of where you’re headed. The seat is comfortable and really supportive, despite the fact that you don’t get fully electric adjustment unless you go for range-topping Edition 1 trim.

We mentioned the trio of screens, and the first is an 11.9in Virtual Cockpit behind the steering wheel. Next to that, behind the same curved pieces of glass, there’s a 14.5in OLED touchscreen, which is used to control all of the infotainment functions. It’s super bright, quick to react to touches and easy to get to grips with, so it’s definitely one of the best infotainment touchscreens in the electric SUV class.

In Edition 1 models, there’s another 10.9in touchscreen in front of the passenger. Because the main infotainment is angled towards the driver, it’s harder for the passenger to use it – and the second screen solves the problem. It’s also polarised, so the driver can’t see what’s being displayed on it and get distracted. 

You might even argue there’s a fourth display on models with Sound & Vision Pack, because a head-up display beams your speed, warning and even animated navigation directions onto the windscreen directly in front of your eye. This pack also brings an upgraded sound system, with a speaker in the headrest to deliver navigation instructions and warning messages.

As we’ve said already, the Q6 e-tron slots between the Q4 and Q8 e-trons in the Audi's SUV line-up. It’s pretty big (almost 4.8 metres long) and just as practical as you might be hoping – as long as you don’t need more than five seats. You see, like it's main rivals, it's a five-seater only.

Still, two – or even three – rear passengers are really well catered for in the Q6 e-tron. The seating position is comfortable (far more so than in a Tesla Model Y) and there’s more than enough leg and head room. Frankly, even the smaller Audi Q4 e-tron can accommodate a couple of six-footers with space to spare, and the Q6 does it in an even more opulent fashion.

(If you want seven seats in your electric SUV check out the similarly priced Kia EV9 or the cheaper Mercedes EQB and Peugeot e-5008.)

Officially, the Q6 has a slightly bigger boot than the BMW iX3 and Mercedes EQE SUV. Not that you’d notice – all three cars have similarly capacious load bays that can easily swallow a couple of pushchairs, a set of golf clubs or enough luggage for a week away.

There’s a respectable amount of underfloor storage for the charging cable and, if you fork out an extra few hundred quid, you’ll gain a second 64-litre front boot under the bonnet, as well as some extra interior storage cubbies and a lockable glovebox. We think that's worth paying for.

The Audi Q6 e-tron is quite a bit more expensive than the Tesla Model Y. There are some mitigating factors, though – the biggest of which is that all versions have a whopping 94.9kWh (usable capacity) battery. 

So, a fairer comparison is the Mercedes EQE SUV. That car has a similar range and, in like-for-like form, costs about the same. However, unlike the EQE SUV – which is available only in four-wheel-drive form – a cheaper rear-wheel-drive version of the Q6 e-tron (called the Performance) is on the way. That will be priced in line with the BMW iX3.

Of course, being a fully electric car the Q6 e-tron arguably appeals most to company car drivers paying benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax. Until April 2025, you’ll pay tax at a rate of just 2% – and even then the rate rises to just 3%. In short, it's far cheaper than any petrol, diesel or even plug-in hybrid alternative – and the difference compared with rival electric SUVs is so small, it’s unlikely to play a big part in your decision making.

More likely to sway your decision is how quickly the Q6 e-tron can charge. Thanks to its 800-volt electrical system, it can pull power at a maximum charging rate of up to 270kW. That’s quicker than a Model Y (up to 250kW), EQE SUV (170kW) and iX3 (155kW), and means a 10-80% top-up can take as little as 21 minutes. Mind you, that’s assuming you’re plugged into a 350kW charger and all the stars align. You’re more likely to be waiting around half an hour – although in rivals you’ll be hanging around for even longer.

The cheapest trim level for the Q6 e-tron is Sport, and that gets you everything you’ll probably want, including 19in alloys, keyless entry, adaptive cruise control and a heat pump, for more efficient warming of the interior. Upgrading to mid-spec S line brings bigger alloys, sportier styling touches and a flat-bottomed steering wheel, but nothing of any real substance.

Finally, there’s Edition 1 trim, which brings even bigger wheels, a second touchscreen for the front passenger, electrically adjustable front seats, matrix LED headlights and a module that can add an electronic soundtrack to the Q6’s acceleration to add a bit of drama. 

The Q6 e-tron did well when it was tested for safety by Euro NCAP. It was awarded five stars out of five, with particularly strong scores for adult and child occupant protection (91% and 92% respectively). 

We can’t give you much of a steer on reliability because the model was too new to feature in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey. However, Audi finished a disappointing 26th out of 32 car brands in our manufacturer league table.

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