By Otsile Kadiege

Back in April 2021, Audi revealed the A6  Concept e-tron EV, which later debuted at the Auto Shanghai 2021 trade fair and served as a preview of future Audi models. Fast forward to today, the automaker unveiled the production version dubbed the A6 e-tron Sportback. The newcomer carries over much of the concept’s sleek design and is based on Volkswagen Group’s PPE ( Premium Platform Electric) platform which debuted on the Q6 e-tron. The newcomer also carries over much of the latter model’s technologies including a battery pack with a claimed range of over 700 km range.

Sleek exterior design

As mention above, the A6 Sportback e-tron has a sleek, futuristic and aerodynamically optimised design, much like the concept version. Exterior highlights include a closed and inverted wide grille with shark-like gills, slim digital LED daytime running lights and separate LED headlights beneath the DRLs, a prominent contrasting lower front bumper finished in gloss black, and functional air inlets on the front bumper.

In profile and at the rear, highlights include a slopping roof-line, second-generation virtual side mirrors, wheel sizes ranging from 19- to 21-inches, flush door handles, second-generation digital OLED rear lights, an illuminated Audi badge in red, and a sporty rear diffuser.

The exterior of the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron differs between the variants basic, S line and S model. Up to eight exterior colours are available at market launch, including the standard colour Magnetic grey solid as well as Glacier white metallic, Typhoon grey metallic and Mythos black metallic. Two blue shades, Plasma blue metallic and Malpelo blue metallic, are also available. Daytona grey pearl effect and Siam beige metallic are reserved exclusively for the S line variant and the S model.

Modern interior design and technology

Inside, the A6 e-tron adopts the design, styling and technology of the Q6 e-tron it’s based on. The cockpit of the A6 Sportback e-tron is littered with screens, you get two screens for the exterior virtual mirrors, an MMI panoramic display which consists of an 11.9-inch Audi virtual cluster display, a 14.5-inch MMI touch display for media control and a 10.9-inch MMI front passenger display. Customers can opt for an optional second-generation augmented reality head-up display (AR HuD).

Other interior highlights include a smart panoramic glass roof with switchable transparency, an infotainment system which uses Android Automotive OS as its operating system, a Bang & Olufsen Premium Sound System with 20 speakers including headrest loudspeakers and an 830 watts amplifier, dual-tone ambient lighting, four-zone climate control, and a shift-by-wire gear selector to name a few.

A6 Sportback e-tron advanced driver assistance systems

Audi provides a wide range of advanced driver assistance systems for the A6 Sportback e-tron. The adaptive driving assistant plus is a new feature of the A6 e-tron. It supports the driver when accelerating, braking, maintaining speed and the set distance, and with lane guidance. This can increase driving comfort, especially on long journeys. In addition to various sensors, depending on the region, the system uses high-resolution map data and swarm data from other vehicles aggregated in the cloud to improve driving behaviour. Applying this fusion of information, the vehicle calculates the route ahead to enable a comfortable driving experience across the entire speed range and in traffic jams.

Park assist plus, a reversing camera, the traffic sign-based speed limiter, camera-based traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, park assist plus with distance display, and distraction and drowsiness warning will come as standard at market launch.

Battery capacity and performance

The A6 Sportback e-tron has powerful electric motors and a lithium-ion battery, newly developed for the PPE, consisting of twelve modules and 180 prismatic cells with a total gross capacity of 100kWh (94.9kWh net) ensure a range of over 750km A6 Sportback e-tron. The 270kW A6 Sportback e-tron performance has a claimed acceleration time of 5.4 seconds from zero to 100km/h. Its top speed is 210km/h.

The S6 e-tron ups the ante with a total system output of 370kW (405kW with launch control). Audi claims the S6 Sportback e-tron will accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds. The top speed is 240km/h. Its range is over 670km.

Thanks to 800V technology and a maximum DC charging capacity of 270kW as standard, short charging stops are possible with the Audi A6 e-tron. This means the A6 Sportback e-tron performance can be recharged at an appropriate charging station (High Power Charging, HPC) for a range of up to 310km in just 10 minutes. The State of Charge (SoC) increases from 10 to 80 percent in 21 minutes. Intelligent high-performance and predictive thermal management are key components of this impressive charging performance.

Equipped with Plug & Charge, the vehicle authorises itself at compatible charging stations when the charging cable is plugged in and activates the charging process. The charging process is fully automatic. If a charging station works with 400V technology, the Audi A6 e-tron can use bank charging. To enable this, the 800V battery is split into two banks, each with a voltage of 400V, which can then be charged in parallel with up to 135kW. AC charging with up to 11kW is possible at standard home chargers. A 22kW AC charging option will be offered later.

Availability

According to Audi South Africa, the new Audi EV Is under consideration for a South African introduction mid-2025.