Unveiling the Audi Q6 etron: A Glimpse into the Future of Audi and Porsche

Today a first look including a first exclusive drive of the Audi Q6 e-tron. It sits between the Q4 e-tron and the Q8 e-tron, so this new electric EV SUV from Audi. And it's so crucial to drive it here today because this sits on the new PPE platform, premium platform electric, that is used with Audi and Porsche.

It's a collaboration and that means that every Audi and Porsche in the future that is bigger than a compact one, so even an electric Macan, electric Cayenne, electric Panamera, electric Q6, electric A6, everything will be on this platform, and will be somewhat similar technology-wise.

Here in the front, we can see a large single-frame grille, here all white out in this case. Usually, we have whole black-out grilles, but with this special prototype paint, we can see the Audi rings now in a more two-dimensional styling and new light technology.

We see these individual elements, this active light we can also see in the front, you can see how the LEDs, they change a little bit in brightness making the car look more alive. And you as a customer can set it individually and how your daytime running light is either in the MMI or via an app, for example, on your smartphone.

This will be very interesting because light features are getting more and more complex. It will also allow for some communication from the car to the exterior. Turning indicators in the typical Audi cascading style here are already in the front. Wow, that's pretty fancy, isn't it?

Length, wheels, battery, and range

On the side profile, 21-inch wheels, are the biggest ones available. White wheels? That's pretty fancy, isn't it? Maybe this makes it also to the final stage, I don't know yet, but I think it fits the car very, very well. Lengthwise, we're at 4.70m or 185 inches, it's about 20cm or 8 inches shorter than the Audi Q8 e-tron, but they share the same wheelbase, not the same platform, that's just basically a coincidence, but you see that there's a very long wheelbase considering the overall length of the vehicle and it means short overhangs both in the front and also in the rear.

What effect will it have on driving, we'll find out later on. We expect rear-wheel drive versions and also all-wheel drive versions. We have the all-wheel drive one here today with an acceleration figure of around 6 seconds, the S model will be at 4.5 seconds, so pretty strong actually or pretty quick, and battery size, will vary, you will have different sizes, but the one that we have here today will also be pretty much the most common one at the beginning around 100kWh.

What range can we expect from that? We have to see with efficiency driving test later on, but, for me,, I expect at the moment up to 500km or 300 miles, something like that, but if you stay subscribed, we will also keep you updated with that one.

OLED "alive" rear lamps

Let's take a look at the rear because I said short rear overhang and also OLED technology for the rear lamps, it's very interesting from the signature and you can also define that yourself and in the lower part, depending on the status of your car is in at the moment,

it looks like the light would actually be alive. So, here also more playing with light and the strip that goes all the way through right here.

Would you want to buy this camo paint directly like it is here at the moment? Then tell me in the comments. And here you can see in the lower part, there is this alive LED function, it shimmers a little bit, so pretty cool, and when I then come closer to the vehicle... like this, you can see, this is signaling the outside world, hey, you are approaching, maybe don't come too close.

Turning indicators in the rear or where the hazard lights also cascade and a new special feature talked about communication to the outside world, here, this triangle, this emergency or hazard light triangle, it is static, but it's actually there. Audi wanted to have it flashing as well like the turning indicator, but that wasn't allowed like regulations law-wise, but this is already something where the car says, hey, this is a warning, and it will also appear when, for example, a pedestrian or cyclist appears from the rear and then you're about to open the door.

Yeah, maybe then pedestrians or cyclists have to learn that Audi vehicles show that one when the door is about to be opened or when the hazard lights are on.

Recharging and suspension

There's a second charging port here. So, one on each side, this one AC only, other side AC and DC, and the DC charging peak is 270 kilowatts from this 800-volt architecture, and we might expect some 10% to 80% state of charge figures, 20-something minutes.

Driving technology-wise, there will be air suspension fitted with this vehicle as an option, and then the different driving modes can also set different standards, you know, how stiff or comfortable it is. No rear axle steering, however, with this vehicle, and also no tilt control, but if that's really necessary, we'll also find out with the driving here today.

Q6 e-tron S with light signatures

The S gets a separate light signature, you can see it right here, and then you can get the optional light signatures. We can click them through right here from inside the vehicle or with an app. I think it's really interesting to play around with the light here, but then again, you have to pay extra for it.

The same also with the Matrix LED, they are also an option, they also get a separate light signature, yeah, but both are separate options you also have to pay extra money for. And when you change the light signatures, it is actually parallel, both in the front and in the rear, and you can see how they change here. So, they came up with some different light ideas, and they say it's just the first step.

There's way more to come for light communication in the future, both design and also, for example, safety function or, you know, showing something that is happening in the car to the outside world. Two more special fun stickers on this vehicle. First of all, there are Audi rings on top of the roof, which looks quite cool.

Maybe you can get that later in the aftermarket, I don't know. And then, there's here this warning prototype sticker, and with the German lesson here for today on Autogefühl, I know you love that. Bei diesem Fahrzeug handelt es sich um einen Technikträger der Audi AG. Listen and repeat. Technikträger. That's technology carrier.

So, it says, this vehicle, it is, it's about a technology carrier of the Audi AG. That's the German lesson for today.

Trunk boot

As for the frunk, yes, there will be a frunk in the Q6 e-tron, not allowed to show it to you yet. I could take personally a look, and it fits a charging cable or maybe even more. So, as I said, a lot of the stuff is still secret, but we could squeeze out as much as possible, you know, all the information we could get for you.

Let's take a look at the trunk or the boot. By the way, here, the Audi rings, have this two-dimensional look, but you can still feel them, so they are still three-dimensional. Let's open it right here and give you the first measurements. This manual... cover, and then you have a little bit more than the meter or 40 inches, and the length is a little bit less than a meter or 40 inches, but overall quite spacious, easily accessible, and then you can also fold the seats here, just fold them around like this, and it folds actually quite flat. So, it will be pretty usable for the trunk space.

The height here is 78 centimeters or 30 inches, so that's actually cool. I also somewhat expect a Q6 e-tron Sportback, by the way.

Interior: key and seating

This is the new key fob. It is inspired by the ones before, but it doesn't have high-gloss black piano lacquer, so it's matte black, and I think that's a good choice. We're not allowed yet to show you the whole new interior, but what we can tell you so far is about the seating comfort, the ergonomics of the seat is really good. There will be different seating materials, also leatherette one, microfiber fabric, but they still use also animal skin leather here in the electric vehicle for an all-new model.

That's strange. Then, headroom here with 189 or 6'2", still a lot of headroom left. I might expect also some panoramic roof options.

The steering wheel is kind of familiar. We also already know it from the Audi Q4 e-tron, not the very same one, but also with #CapacitiveBS buttons on the steering wheel. You do have some kind of feedback, though, for example, also the heated steering wheel.

Rear seats

Rear seats, as for the headroom, no problem at all, plenty of headroom left, and I've set the driver's seat to my driving position as a tall driver, and then we do have some legroom left here. This recess here also works well with the seat.

Honestly, I would have expected a little bit more legroom than here in this very platform, but it might also depend then from seat to seat setup. The middle seat is, of course, also usable, but I can't show you that at this moment, but you can drive with five tall adults in this vehicle.

Acceleration Q6 etron 55 TFSI AWD

Acceleration. That's no problem. That's 85, almost 90 kilometers an hour, so that's like 0 to 50-55 miles per hour approximately. The official figure to 100 kilometers an hour or 62 miles an hour is around 6 seconds here with the 55 model, so strong all-wheel-drive model. Above that is only the S model.

That's a little bit quicker at 4.5 seconds in acceleration. The electric motor setup with the new electric motors from Audi works in a way that the rear electric motor is always the stronger one, actually, so you have some rear-wheel bias like with the classic Quattro, for example, where you had this 40/60. Can't directly translate that because it individually rules on each axle, so there's no mechanical link, of course, here in the electric platform, but you can still keep this rear wheel bias somewhat, and it's also very interesting what they did then with cornering.

For example, now I'm at the outgoing of a corner, and I open the steering again to accelerate out, then a little bit more power is diverted to the front wheels, so I can better get out of the corner, also getting pulled out of the corner, basically. Very beautiful roads here on the Faroe Islands, and, of course, there's a lot of wind outside and also some rain there, but for that, it's actually quite silent in here, so as we know, a good noise dampening from Audi.

As for suspension, you will optionally get an air suspension. We also have it here in this very vehicle, and it depends then on the driving mode. At the moment, we are in the dynamic mode, but still, although it's the dynamic mode, the suspension is a little bit stiffer, and we have 21-inch wheels mounted. You still feel the air suspension, but we just get a little bit more feedback, but as we know also from the Audi setups, even when it's in the sporty mode, it still keeps a certain amount of comfort, that you can basically sit in a dynamic mode in this vehicle and still drive it for your whole trip and not have, you know, loss of comfort, for example.

In the dynamic mode, I also have a little bit more feedback at the steering wheel, and I like that because you can also set individual modes. I sometimes do that when I drive the vehicle for a longer period of time, where I have an individual mode where I have more feedback on the steering wheel, but maybe suspension on the softer note.

Suspension and driving modes

In the comfort mode, I set it here in the lower part of the vehicle, the drive select button. Comfort mode gives me a little bit more play with the steering, and the suspension is a little bit softer even, so, if you want to go for large wheels, then air suspension is recommended to basically even that out. If you want even softer comfort, then you would need to reduce the wheel size because then you have a little bit more dampening from the tire.

Interestingly is also when we go through the drive select, we have efficiency, we have off-road mode, and the car goes a little bit higher then. If you would drive really slow, we would even have a lift mode that puts the car even higher for more ground clearance, and then there's the new balanced mode, and that one replaces the mode auto we've known for a lot of years before, and they renamed this mode now to be more precise because auto, some customer thought that the car would automatically do everything, but it was basically just like a normal balanced mode, and that's why they renamed it now to balanced, and then you can go softer in the setup to comfort or stiff in the setup to dynamic, but you can always just stay in the balanced mode because it indeed fulfills all purposes, so you can drive in a very comfortable way, but also when you drive sporty, it's still fine.

For example, when I, you know, do some left-right here, the car doesn't shake up at all, but at the same time, when we have some uneven parts in the road, it's not getting bumpy or something.

You know, a little bit quicker corner, for example, steering really precise, so there's no dead zone area from the steering, acceleration out, good performance from the electric motors.

Let's see if we can feel something of that. Interesting, yeah. Yeah, you feel when you open the steering that you get some more power from the front axle. That's very interesting, so you might argue that it maybe feels less sporty because the sportier feel is always when you always have more power at the rear, which also works with the driving modes, by the way, when you are in dynamic driving mode, but then again to be more efficient and quicker out of the corner, it is actually good that when you open the steering again that you're also getting more pulled from the front. Yeah, very interesting indeed.

Driving uphill now, once again, a very beautiful landscape and, well, the good thing here for an electric vehicle is when the air gets thin, there's no problem when you compare it to a combustion engine, for example.

Q6 etron vs Q8 etron

The very interesting question is, by the way, you asked me that before, is this one you're handling any differently to the Audi Q8 e-tron that was recently facelifted and also renamed, and it does feel significantly different indeed, and so what my gut feeling tells me, with the Q8 e-tron, you can still somewhat feel the combustion engine platform.

This one here really feels completely different. What do I mean by that? If you drive a normal Audi A6, for example, an Audi Q8, or Audi Q8 e-tron, they all feel somewhat similar. You sit down and get a known feeling.

This one here feels in a way different, but at the same time, suspension-wise, for example, and steering-wise, it feels known Audi, but just everything that goes on around you, you kind of feel the shorter overhangs. It feels more EV. This is what my feeling tells me when I'm driving this one, and the reason behind it is that they can make the car more efficient, better range, also, it's quite cold up here, so it also doesn't have so much range losses, especially in colder temperature.

That's the reason behind this whole platform that you have a purpose-built electric vehicle who don't have to rely on or share platforms with combustion engines. You know, BMW does it differently. They build one and the same vehicle with different drivetrains from one assembly line, and both have pros and cons.

You can make EVs better, so to speak, when you have a dedicated platform, but then again, you can react more flexibly when the demand is changing between the powertrains That's, for example, the advantage for BMW. Yeah, it depends on how it plays out from the market overall.

Regenerative braking

When we're going downhill now, again, we can talk about recuperation. Their basic philosophy is coasting. That means when I lift my foot off the throttle, the car is rolling, which is the most efficient thing to do when you don't want to gain energy back, but you can easily do that here, for example, by hitting the brake, and recuperation is setting in, so the driver just controls it him/herself, no problem, and you have the camper van there in front of us. What we can also do, we can use it for recuperation.

Here, use the shifting paddle, and then I can lift the throttle entirely, and we have some recuperation, but you see already notably. Second level and I already have to check if no one is behind me because there's quite strong recuperation already, and then there would be the third step, and which is using the lower shifting lever here and going to the B mode, and then we have the strongest recuperation. This would be equivalent to a one-pedal driving feeling. So, it depends on how you want to drive or, for example, when you drive downhill for a very long period of time, and, of course, it makes sense to go, for example, to the B mode or set one of the recuperation levels here.

Wow, the really spectacular landscape here. But one catch to that is that when you restart the vehicle, it is always being reset to the standard level, which means no, no recuperation at all, just the coasting or just recuperation by the brake pedal, and that is not really a decision by Audi to reset it, but that's the law because the car, because of the consumption cycles and so on, has to be measured in one mode.

The only thing you can do as a manufacturer is to set this mode, so they could also have said, hey, we set everything on strong recuperation and keep that one as a standard mode, but that's up to the manufacturer, and it's also up to you which method you prefer, and I, for example, usually prefer a slight recuperation, you know, to be like a compromise between two worlds overall, but, yeah, my conclusion of driving is actually it does have aspects like steering and suspension which feel pretty familiar Audi, but this whole new platform feels so much more electric than anything else they have done so far, and the crucial thing I told you initially will be that all of the upcoming large Audi and Porsche models will be on this platform here, and that's why this basic driving feeling will also be somewhat similar, that's why this driving part is so relevant here today.

The EV platform feeling

The beautiful landscape here behind me, this is the Faroe Islands. It is basically somewhat in the Atlantic, but close to the British coast. Check it out on Google Maps, and we can also write the name description then in the comments. What else is there to watch right now? The Audi Q8 e-tron, the bigger brother, or one of the competitors, the Mercedes EQE.