The Mercedes-Benz EQE and upcoming BMW i5 are set to get a rival from Ingolstadt that will also offer one of the few wagons in the electric vehicle market.
Autocar reports the Audi A6 e-tron will launch in 2024 in both sedan and Avant wagon guise, and it will look much like their 2021 and 2022 concept versions, respectively.
The electric sedan and wagon range will arrive shortly after the Q6 e-tron crossover, with which it will share the new Premium Platform Electric co-developed by Audi and Porsche. PPE also underpins the upcoming Porsche Macan EV.
MORE: Audi A6 e-tron concept revealed
MORE: Audi keeps the wagon alive with A6 Avant e-tron EV concept
A6 Avant e-tron concept
“At the end of this year, we will launch the Q6 E-tron, and then a few months later the A6 E-tron,” said Audi’s head of design, Marc Lichte.
“The A6 E-tron is exactly three years after we launched the E-tron GT, and on the A6 E-tron – as you could see on the concept car, which is very, very, very, very, very close to the production car – you can see that we will go sleeker and simpler.”
Audi’s concepts aren’t complete flights of fancy, with Mr Lichte also telling the UK publication the 2023 Activesphere concept could preview an allroad spinoff of the A7 due around 2027, and confirmed the next-generation A8 – due in 2024 – will look much like the 2021 Grandsphere concept.
A6 e-tron concept
The A6 e-tron range will be offered with a choice of single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains.
The concept sedan used a 100kWh lithium-ion battery with a claimed range of 700km on the stricter WLTP standard, 800V technology, and 270kW of charging capacity.
The Avant concept also used a 100kWh battery, along with a dual-motor AWD powertrain with 350kW of power and 800Nm of torque.
Audi said the production A6 e-tron could offer a 0-100km/h time of less than seven seconds in base guide and “well under” four seconds in its most powerful variants.
The company has also hinted at an RS6 e-tron flagship. Using the Macan EV as a guide, this could produce up to 450kW of power and 1000Nm of torque.
For reference, the current Audi RS6 pumps out 441kW and 800Nm from its twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine.
The concept’s suspension consists of a five-link axle up front optimised for electric vehicles, with a multi-link axle at the rear. It also features air suspension with adaptive dampers.
Sized similarly to the combustion-powered A6, the electric sedan and wagon have drag coefficients of just 0.22 and 0.24, respectively.
Audi chose not to reveal the interiors of either concept, and spy photos haven’t given us a close look.
We could expect to see, however, a more tablet-style infotainment touchscreen instead of Audi’s more classically integrated screens if the upcoming Q6 e-tron is a guide.
The production A6 Avant e-tron will be one of the world’s few electric station wagons.
MG has the MG 5 in Europe, based on the Roewe ei5, but it’s a mass-market small wagon, while at the other end of the spectrum there’s the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo.
A6 e-tron prototype
A more direct rival will come in the shape of the BMW i5 Touring, based on the next-generation 5 Series and expected to be revealed during 2023 or 2024.
Whether the i5 Touring will come here, however, is unclear. Audi Australia has remained committed to wagons, offering the long-roof versions of the A4 and A6 including hot RS-badged models.
BMW, however, ended private sales of the 5 Series Touring.
Audi says it will end production of combustion-powered vehicles by 2033, except in China.
