Audi is in the midst of a massive model line transformation with all of its even-numbered cars becoming EVs and all of its odd-numbered cars staying gas-powered. This shift aims to make electric vehicles like the all-new Audi A6 and S6 E-Tron extremely important in its portfolio. While it might be called the A6, this mid-size liftback is more of a replacement for the A7, just with the addition of electric power.
Regardless of naming scheme, I found both the entry-level A6 E-Tron and higher-power S6 E-Tron to be compelling vehicles that are a welcome — and rather handsome — addition to the mid-size luxury segment, where they’ll go toe-to-toe with the BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE. The two Audis also make it very apparent that for 95 percent of driving, you do not need the faster EV.
Full Disclosure: Audi flew me all the way to Tenerife, put me up in fancy hotels and fed me all so I could drive the 2025 A6 and S6.
Gone are the four- and six-cylinder motors that powered the previous A6 and S6. In their place are either one or two electric motors depending on your trim level. In the U.S., the model lineup will have three power levels to choose from. First, we’ve got the base-level A6 E-Tron. It comes equipped with a single motor at the rear axle that puts out 375 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque and has an EPA-estimated 370 miles of range. Audi says it’s working on a long-range model with smaller wheels that can hit 390 miles, which would make it one of the longest-range EVs on the market.
Next up is the A6 E-Tron Quattro. That adds a second motor at the front axle to give the A6 all-wheel drive, and it makes 456 horsepower and a 333-mile driving range. Finally, we’ve got the big-dog S6 E-Tron. It keeps the two-motor setup of the Quattro, but with much more power. Horsepower rises to 543, but range takes a dip to 324 miles. That’s still pretty solid, but it isn’t going to set any records. It should be noted that Audi hasn’t released official torque figures yet for AWD cars. Those should pop up closer to launch.
Regardless of motor configuration, the A6 and S6 E-Tron come with a sizable 100kWh battery pack (of which a 94.4-kWh net is usable), and they run on an 800-volt architecture. The new A6 is built on Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Electric that is shared with other vehicles like the Audi Q6 E-Tron and Porsche Macan. Audi says the A6’s battery can fast-charge at a max of 270 kW, and it’s able to go from 10 percent to 80 percent in just 21 minutes. It can also gain about 135 miles of range in 10 minutes of charging. That’s not too shabby at all. Regardless of which model you go with, you’ve also got multiple levels of regenerative braking. You can turn regen braking all the way off, select one of two regen braking intensities or crank it all the way up to full one-pedal driving. I’ll be honest, though, one-pedal isn’t very intense in this car. It’ll bring the car to a stop, but it takes a while.
Now that I’ve got all of those boring technical details out of the way, I should talk about how the A6 and S6 E-Trons drive. I’ll just say this: Both cars are certainly geared for luxury over sportiness, and I don’t mind that one bit. I drove the entry-level single-motor A6 and the top-dog S6 — the Quattro wasn’t available for testing and neither were the Avants that we won’t get in America, so don’t ask. Both cars offered decent dynamics, but they weren’t exactly inspiring to drive. According to Audi, the 375-hp A6 E-Tron got from 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, and it can go on to a top speed of 130 mph. Those are both pretty good numbers, but I get the feeling it would much rather cruise down the highway at Autobahn speeds than attack a corner.
Like most Audis, it tends to understeer when you come into a corner a bit too hot, as I did a few times on the twisty roads of Tenerife. Regardless of drive mode (there’s Balanced, Dynamic, Comfort and Efficiency), the A6 E-Tron doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence when it comes to performance driving, and a lot of that comes from the adaptive air suspension and steering tuning. The suspension was rather soft even in Dynamic mode, and the steering was very light. Please don’t take this to mean I didn’t care for the way the A6 drove — I did it’s just not a performance vehicle. To me, that’s OK, because the world is sorely missing luxury cars that are only trying to be luxurious right now. Driving down the highway with the excellent adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping systems working while getting a massage from the wonderfully comfy front seats was more than enough to win me over.
Unfortunately, a lot of the A6 E-Tron’s driving foibles continue to the S6. These two cars put in perspective how, 99 percent of the time, different variants of an EV all sort of feel the same. Years ago, you’d buy an S6 because it had a massive V10 engine versus the lowly six-cylinder of an A6, and that felt special all the time. Now, the only real material differences between the A6 and S6 are some slightly different styling cues and a stiffer suspension. The steering is still far too light, and even with a rear-biased AWD system, the S6 pushes when you get into a corner.
However, this means the positive driving characteristics of the A6 continue in the S6 as well. It’s still wonderfully comfy on the highway, meaning it’s sure to be an Autobahn bomber with its 149-mph top speed. To be fair, the S6 isn’t completely hopeless dynamically either. It’s very flat in the corners thanks to that stiffer suspension, and you can carry immense speeds thanks to the 21-inch Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires, though it’s still not very confidence-inspiring to drive quickly thanks to the extremely light steering. Overall, it drives rather well, but the S6 E-Tron isn’t going to be the sporty sedan (or liftback) you were hoping for.
Inside the A6 and S6 E-Tron, you’re greeted with the sort of build quality and tech we’ve come to expect from Audi. There are two real highlights in the cabin: the technology and the seats. I’ve put my ass down in a lot of car seats in my life, and these are right up there with the best when it comes to comfort and a sporty feel. It also helps that they’re heated, ventilated and, of course, can massage your back. On certain packages, you even get speakers in the headrest, so it’s pretty much a Mazda Miata. Aside from the comfort, they’re also well-bolstered enough that you’re kept firmly in place going around corners. I don’t know how Audi was able to pull off such wonderful seats, but they’re pretty much second to none.
The other aspect where the E-Tron siblings’ interior excels is when it comes to technology. The focal points are, unsurprisingly, the screens. There’s an 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit gauge cluster screen and a massive 14.5-inch infotainment screen that are meant to form some sort of panoramic display, and you can get an optional 10.9-inch front passenger display that may be the most useful one I’ve ever interacted with.
All three work exceedingly well together and never feel overwhelming, even if there’s a ton of screen real estate taking up space in the cabin. Above all of that is a huge augmented reality head-up display that can flash turn-by-turn directions like a video game and trace the lane lines and cars in front of you when you’ve got adaptive cruise control engaged. It’s a really neat system, and I’m excited to see it pop up in more vehicles.
The rest of the interior is pretty well thought out as well, including the squircle steering wheel that does a good job of not blocking the gauge cluster screen. My one real gripe is the use of capacitive touch buttons. They’re everywhere from the steering wheel and the control panel to the left of the driver and on the center console. There’s also a little bit too much piano black plastic for my liking, especially on the oddly big bezels surrounding the screens, but these are just small grips. Other than a couple of other cheap-ish feeling plastic pieces, the interior materials feel very premium, whether you’re touching metals, soft-touch plastics, fabrics or leathers.
Something else the A6 and S6 E-Tron excel in interior-wise is space. There’s a lot of it. At 6-foot-1 I can sit behind myself rather comfortably, and because this car is a liftback now there’s a ton of trunk space. Audi says it has 26 cubic feet of trunk space behind the rear seats. That jumps up to 40 cubic feet with the rear seats folded For reference, the ICE-powered A6 and A7 have 13.7 and 24.9 cubic feet of truck space, behind the rear seats respectively. If that isn’t quite enough, there’s a modest frunk with 0.95 cubic feet of space. That’ll be more than enough for a charger and a couple of other things.
Moving outside, the A6 and S6 are both very handsome, though other than some badges and wheel choices, it’s hard to tell the two cars apart. Audi did a really good job of hiding some of the car’s chunk with a side blade that runs along the bottom of the doors. Up front, there’s a lot of black plastic that surrounds the car’s “grille,” and it does a good job of hiding the main headlights. The light pods above those are just for running lights (and they can be configured to different styles depending on what you like).
Out back, it’s classic Audi with a light bar and light-up rings, though the chunk is a bit less hidden out here. There are also eight light signatures to choose from to make your A6 or S6 your own. Up top, there’s an optional panoramic glass roof that you can switch up the transparency of, similar to what Porsche has on the Taycan. Audi’s engineers and designers put a lot of thought into how the A6 and S6 would slip through the air. The automaker says the car has a drag coefficient of just 0.21, lower than the i5’s 0.23 and EQE’s 0.22 coefficients, which is partially how the A6 and S6 get such good range out.
One thing I haven’t touched on yet is pricing. Well, that’s because there isn’t anything to report yet. Audi says we should know more closer to the vehicles’ release in the spring or summer of 2025. That being said, German prices are listed online, so we should be able to get some idea of what they’ll cost. Before adding the 19 percent German VAT, the A6 E-Tron starts around $52,700 and a base S6 E-Tron comes in around $83,600.
If it were my money, I’d go with the rear-drive A6 E-Tron. Sure, the power and performance of the S6 would be nice, but the financial savings and excellent range of the lower-tier car make it a hard argument to overcome. A typical issue with high-performance EVs is that they feel like lower-power cars in most driving conditions, and because of that, I don’t feel like you’d miss out too much if you just go for the cheaper car.
The new A6 and S6 E-Trons are setting the stage for a more electrically-focused Audi, and if that’s the future the brand is going with, it’s shaping up to be a rather good one. These cars offer a compelling alternative for the BMW i5 and Mercedes EQE buyers of the world, and I think the Audis are better looking and offer slicker tech than either of those cars. Still, it’s not perfect. For people looking for a German sports sedan, look elsewhere, because these cars are certainly geared toward luxury over sportiness. I’m honestly happy about that.
