The new electric SUV comes with a 100 kW battery for ranges of up to 620 km and two power levels: 390 and 490 for the SQ6.
The new Audi Q6 e-Tron will arrive in 2024 after a delay of a couple of years in which Ingolstadt has taken the opportunity to further refine a model that promises to be the most technological SUV of the moment.
It measures 4.77 meters and is based on the PPE platform on which the Porsche Macan and soon the Audi A6 e-Tron also sit.
The advantage of this is that it is Audi's most flexible base at the moment, since with the PPE smaller and more economical cars and also larger and more powerful cars can appear, almost at the level of the Audi e-Tron GT (which has the J1 platform shared with the Porsche Taycan).
Audi's new electric SUV benefits from a new electronic architecture called E3 1.2 developed together with Cariad. It uses no less than five different computers to control the car's various systems, from the engine and dynamics to networking.
Interior: debuts buttonless design language
In Ingolstadt they are betting on screens to control the entire car and the Audi Q6 will have the Audi Virtual Cockpit as standard in all versions. It is an 11.9-inch panel that joins another central panel of no less than 14.5.
Additionally, on the passenger side there is another one with the same system and in which you can watch videos in motion without fear of distracting the driver, since he cannot see it from his seat.
What you will be able to see will be a new Head-Up Display with augmented reality that is spectacular in size (equivalent to 88″ field of vision) and information displayed. This appears about 10 meters from the car and has artificial intelligence to improve its performance.
One of the details that the new Q6 has is that it practically says goodbye to the buttons. At Audi they have decided to opt for touch control for almost everything, leaving just a couple of buttons for essential functions.
The good part is that, during the presentation, I was able to sit inside the car and test the system. The handling is almost identical to what it is now, which I think is good, although it is true that some type of physical control is missing even though the climate control, for example, is always visible.
In addition, the brand assures that voice control allows not only natural language, but that there are 800 functions that can be activated using the 100 commands that are recorded.
One battery for two power levels
Orders for the 2024 Audi Q6 e-Tron begin this month and, according to the brand, they have simplified both the range and the options to make configuration and purchase easier.
From the moment of launch the family is divided into two: the Audi Q6 e-Tron itself and the Audi SQ6 e-Tron.
Both have a battery of 100 total kW (94.9 net) that is divided into 12 modules. Each module is composed of 15 nickel-magnesium-cobalt cells (manufactured by CATL) and operates at 800 volts, allowing for very fast charging speeds.
And the Audi Q6 e-Tron can charge up to 270 kW, which allows it to gain 255 km in just 10 minutes and do 10 to 80% in 21 minutes. In a domestic socket, it supports capacities of up to 11 kW, although in the future it may reach 22.
A curious fact is that it has a second charging port on the opposite side for 11 kW (which will also be updated with those 22 kW later).
Later on there will be a smaller 83 kW battery (from which two of those 12 modules are removed) and propulsion variants, as well as a possible RSQ6 (they neither confirm it nor the opposite) and the more than sung Sportback bodywork.
As for propulsion, the Q6 has two motors, one on each axle. In the case of the Q6 it has a power of 285 kW (about 387 HP) and in the case of the SQ6 e-Tron (in the photos below) the power reaches 360 kW, which is equivalent to about 489 HP.
OLED taillights: say hello to animations
One of the most striking aspects of the new Audi Q6 e-Tron from 2024 is that it debuts a new generation of OLED lights.
The first appeared in the 2016 TT RS with four segments, but now it has 360 elements (180 per driver) to form different design patterns and even animations.
The person in charge of the department that has developed this is the Spanish César Muntada and he told me that each triangle is one millimeter thick and that, today, they cannot be smaller due to the circuitry attached to the back.
The possibilities are quite high: together with the 61 segments of the headlight, eight light signatures can be selected.
Also, thanks to the variations in color and design, it can communicate with the rest of the vehicles on the road, for example in an emergency. Thus, when you put on the warning lights, the Q6 draws emergency triangles in its lights.
Prices: not yet confirmed, but hold on
Initially the range will have a normal finish with a rim between 18 and 21 inches and the usual S-Line (19-21″) that can be completed with the Black Package). In addition, there is also the SQ6 (20 and 21″ ) to which you can also put the pack with black finishes.
As standard, the Q6 will come with everything you can imagine, with the new Virtual Cockpit as the main protagonist. Also a greater number of equipment packages to simplify the purchasing (and manufacturing) process.
The Audi Q6 e-Tron is placed between the Q4 e-Tron (4.55 meters) and the Q8 e-Tron (4.90), and it will also do so in price. If Audi's smallest electric SUV costs 52,000 euros and the largest starts at 90,000, with the Q6 you can bet that it will start well into 70,000 euros…