Audi Q6 e-tron and Q6 Sportback e-tron together in the cold

It’s a bit of a shift at Audi. Where ‘e-tron’ used to stand for a plug-in hybrid powertrain, it is now Audi’s EV label. We now know cars like the Q4 e-tron, Q4 Sportback e-tron and the E-tron GT, but the EV umbrella that those cars are hung under was introduced with an SUV simply called E-tron. That E-tron and the later E-tron Sportback have recently been facelifted and to make their position within the growing range of e-tron models clear, they are now called Q8 e-tron and Q8 Sportback e-tron. You can already see it: there is quite a bit of space between the Q4’s e-tron and Q8’s e-tron. But not for long. The Audi Q6 e-tron and Q6 e-tron Sportback you see in these photos fills the gap between the two model ranges.

Audi Q6 Sportback e-tron: with a steeper sloping roofline.

As far as technology is concerned, the Audi Q6 e-tron will be an interesting one. It is not on the MEB platform that you know from cars like the Q4 e-tron and a series of other EVs from the Volkswagen Group. The Q6 e-tron also does not share its base with big brother Q8 e-tron, which still largely uses MLB technology. The Q6 e-tron will be Audi’s first model series to be placed on the PPE platform developed jointly by Audi and Porsche. At Porsche, it is the electric Macan that introduces this base.

The production versions of the A6 e-tron and this A6 e-tron Avant also get PPE technology.

This new platform, which will also be included in the A6 e-tron and A6 e-tron Avant, which will be released later, makes relatively high charging capacities and considerable horsepower possible thanks to the 800V architecture. Porsche recently said that the electric Macan can charge faster than the Taycan. That is promising, the maximum charging capacity of the Taycan is 270 kW. In addition, according to Porsche, the Macan would initially be up to 612 hp, although there will of course also be milder variants and it cannot be ruled out that more powerful versions will be available. At Audi, power in the 600 hp regions seems to be reserved for the RS version of the Q6 e-tron, which is also coming.

In these photos, both the Audi Q6 e-tron and its more dynamically lined Sportback brother were captured in northern Sweden near the Arctic Circle. We expect Audi’s Q6 e-tron on the market next year.

Audi Q6 without etron

There is already an SUV from Audi called Q6. It has to do without the e-tron addition and is sold in China by the Chinese joint venture SAIC Audi. You should see that Audi Q6 as Audi’s version of the Volkswagen Atlas/Teramont, which is not available here. Under the skin you will simply find the MQB platform. Furthermore, Audi sells an unknown electric SUV in China called the Q5 e-tron. The Q5 e-tron in turn is a seven-seater electric SUV with MEB technology that you can see as Audi’s equivalent of the Volkswagen ID6, which is also not available here. The ID6 is again the slightly larger alternative to the ID4 and ID5.