Audi’s latest EV, the 2025 Q6 E-Tron SUV and its more powerful sibling the SQ6, will sit smack in the middle of Audi’s electric SUV lineup, nestled between the Q8 E-Tron and the petite Q4 E-Tron. The actual sale date of the car isn’t until the end of the year, and I was only allowed to tool around in prototypes on a parking lot test track. While this limits our ability to review the vehicle ahead of its premiere, it does mean the Q6 has more time to cook. That’s definitely a plus, considering that Audi calls the Q6 its most digital car yet. It also rides on a brand-new platform, and our problems with the Q4 E-Tron were mainly with the unfinished feel of the digital experience and the rough handling of the car itself.
Full disclosure: Audi flew me out to Munich to take a look at the Q6 E-Tron in its center in Munich. They put me up at a nice hotel and fed me fairly regularly.
While the Q4 is built on the MEB platform developed mainly for Volkswagen’s ID series, the Q6 sits on the new Audi–Porsche jointly developed PPE architecture (Premium Platform Electric), which made its debut with the brand-new Porsche Macan EV. I think this is fantastic solid ground to build a very enjoyable electric crossover. While that might give any buyer pause — jumping into an unproven electric platform feet first isn’t for the faint of heart — the short time I spent in the Q6 still clearly indicated this platform delivers the Audi feel and performance we’ve been hoping for.
That performance of the Q6 E-Tron includes 422 horsepower, with 456 hp delivered when using launch control, which will send your Q6 from 0 to 60 mph in an estimated sub-five seconds and to a top speed of 130 miles per hour with the accelerator down to the floor — more than enough for any mid-size SUV. The SQ6 will pump out 483 hp while driving and a staggering 510 hp during launch control, with a 4.2-second 0-to-60 time and a 143-mph top speed.
Europeans are getting a smaller battery option that won’t come to our shores. Range-hungry Americans would likely pass on a 80-kWh battery pack anyway. The Land of the Free is getting the 100-kWh, 800-volt lithium-ion battery pack only. The European officials figure it is good for almost 380 miles of range on the more optimistic WLTP, but in the U.S., that figure has yet to be nailed down. All the company could tell us was the Q6 would be good for “over 300 miles,” so we’ll need to wait for the Environmental Protection Agency to settle up with Audi at a later date. The batteries are made up of 12 lithium-ion cells that can be replaced individually when one fails, adding again to the longevity of the battery; just one of many advancements that ups the durability of this EV.
Audi says owners can charge at 250 kW up to 40 percent capacity thanks to advanced battery cooling systems, and it’ll still be charging 150 kW up to 80 percent. The Q6 can get to 80 percent charge in just 21 minutes, and after only 10 minutes of being plugged in, the Q6 can gain 158 miles of range. At 80 percent, you’ll have at least a few hundred miles of travel in your vehicle.
Using Audi’s infotainment system to navigate to the closest charger, the car can prepare the battery for optimal charging temperatures. This cooling and heating system also extends the life of the 800-volt battery and preserves as much mileage as possible, though extreme cold and heat can still mess with the range (can’t blame Audi for physics). The first-gen Q6 E-Tron will come with the CCS plug, which is a bit of a pain for American drivers, but Audi is coming out with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) adapter for early customers, and later models will be sold with the NACS port. The Q6 comes with charging ports on both sides of the vehicle, which is pretty dang handy for folks who have installed a fast charger in their own garage.
Then there’s the regenerative braking, which picks up extra charge from any form of braking, even if no regen braking is engaged. The braking system in the Q6 allows for one of the best one-pedal driving experiences I’ve had in a while. Again, my time in the Q6 was restricted to a prototype in a parking lot, but taking my foot off the accelerator led to a very natural feeling of coming from 50 mph to a dead stop, with none of the sudden jerks of previous systems I’ve tried both from Audi and other brands.
And the technological improvements don’t stop there. Standardization of parts in the front and rear axles means less complexity and an easier construction, leading to reduced costs. The front axle has three different variants, while the back has two. The rear axle comes with a permanently excited asynchronous motor and direct rotor core cooling, which allows Audi to nearly abandon heavy rare earth metals in the magnets – another cost-cutting measure that adds to the Q6’s green bona fides while losing none of the car’s efficiency. The rear axle generates 280 kW while the front hits 140 kW. The rear motor will mainly propel the Q6, but the front motor can be engaged for a truly Quattro experience.
One of the coolest features are the bitchin’ multipixel OLED array lights which, of course, we here in the USA are not going to be able to fully enjoy. That’s frankly too bad, because the moving lights create a sense of depth and dimension that is truly unique. Current guidelines from the National Traffic Safety Administration and the Society for Automotive Engineers dictates that our lights be constantly burning rather than sparkle or create a moving effect like the Q6’s can.
There is hope, however — it would only take a quick over-the-air update to allow our Q6s to be as cool as their European cousins should regulations change. Hopefully regulations do change, because the eight light signatures Audi programmed into the vehicle are at their coolest when they can twinkle like a fireplace, or create a sense of movement. For now however, Americans will see lights that burn consistently, but they do create very interesting 3D images using 360 triangle-shaped OLED segments.
Audi is clearly enchanted with its lovely new lights, as it should be. The sharpest lines on the Q6 strike out from the wraparound headlamps and taillights, drawing the eye directly to these fantastic moving elements. The eight different light signatures can be applied to different driver profiles or set when you get into the vehicle, and the lights can morph and change to indicate the driver is leaving or coming home. Audi also includes a triangle shape to indicate caution as the vehicle backs up, as the driver enters and exits the vehicle or generally turns on their hazard lights. The exterior design also highlights the new more advanced battery pack. Truly, Audi has a lot to show off with the Q6.
The cockpit is also downright gorgeous with a 14.5-inch wrap-around MMI screen for the driver, plus an 11.6-incher and a smaller 10.9-inch screen for the passenger. This screen is both more elegant and safer than a center-mounted iPad-looking touchscreen. All of the driver’s information is right there in front of them, an increasingly novel approach. There is also a head-up display, but I didn’t really get to put it through its paces in the prototype car. The HUD was a problem in the Q4, so it’s great to see a really elegant, safe and sensible approach in the Q6.
That passenger screen is angled so only the passenger can see it, and it’s good for playing games or watching movies. Sound for such activities will come from the car’s speakers, and it’ll be automatically quieted for things like driving instructions, safety alerts, phone calls or the voice-activated assistant, which can be engaged by the driver saying “Hey Audi.” The voice assistant can control 800 functions through over 100 possible commands, with some as simple as saying “hey Audi, my hands are cold,” to start steering wheel heater.
Inside, Americans get leather seats only, which is a shame as the cloth seats look great, but again: Americans. A lot of attention was paid to finding places to put recycled materials, such as the headliner and floor mats. The back seat is limited on space and fun stuff, but that’s where you can stick your noisy kids or friends you don’t like very much. The Q6 comes with a 18.6-cubic-foot cargo area and a 0.17-cubic-foot frunk. Color options are, well, a lot of black, white, and gray, plus a red and a blue that looks like gray. Of course, SQ6 owners get special styling for their slightly more powerful performance model, including an S sketched up and down the vehicle and certain special lighting animations specific to the SQ6.
Driving the Q6 was still a delight, even if I was only treated to a short time in a prototype. It wouldn’t really be fair to call this a review of the driving dynamics due to the short time spent in the car, but the handling and regenerative braking were such an obvious improvement over the Q4 that it is worth noting. The technology inside and the amount of information on the curved dash was initially overwhelming, especially as Audi phases out even more buttons and knobs for its “most digital Audi yet,” but I’m sure that owners will grow to understand their vehicle’s readouts quickly. The entire thing is run on Android, though not Google Auto, as Audi attempts to keep as much development in-house as possible. Apple Music isn’t available yet, but Spotify and Amazon Music are.
While there are a few bumps in the road, such as the lack of NACS charging until the next generation, the Q6 E-Tron is a huge leap for Audi both in terms of technology and driving dynamics, even compared to just two years ago when I first drove the Q4. It feels like a good step toward fixing some key issues that middle-of-the-road adopters have with EVs. The Q6 addresses charging time, range anxiety and EVs’ not-undeserved reputation of pretending to be greener than they actually are; the Q6 does all of this and looks amazing in the process.
