Does this crucial new BMW iX3 rival move the electric SUV game on? We find out On sale February 2024 Price from £55,000 (est)
Felix Page felix.page@haymarket.com
What happens when two superpowers join forces? Well, Batman and Superman made light work of Lex Luthor when they teamed up for the first time in 2016’s Dawn of Justice, those new Burger King Whopper-flavoured Doritos are a smash hit, and who can deny that Queen and David Bowie’s collaboration on Under Pressure is one of the defining songs of its era?
You’d expect greatness to shine through, then, when two of the world’s leading car makers work together to create their new electric vehicles – particularly when they already have a successful track record of combining their strongest attributes. The two brands in question here are Audi and Porsche – both part of the expansive VW Group and already successful collaborators, with the Audi E-tron GT electric performance car being closely related to the Porsche Taycan.
But this new Audi Q6 e-tron electric SUV – which is the sister model to the next-generation Porsche Macan – should have much more of an impact than either of those earlier models. Similar in size to Audi’s best-selling Q5, it’s said to bring big improvements in performance, range and infotainment functionality compared with Audi’s existing electric SUVs.
As its name suggests, the Q6 sits between the Q4 e-tron and Q8 e-tron in terms of size and price, giving Audi a much-needed answer to cars like the BMW iX3, Lexus RZ and Mercedes-Benz EQC.
Audi won’t reveal full specifications until later this year, but the 90% production-ready prototypes we drove (a mid-range Q6 e-tron 55 and a high-performance SQ6 e-tron) were both equipped with a 100kWh (total capacity) battery that engineers say should offer up to 373 miles of range. That’s far more than you get from any of the aforementioned rivals. And because the Q6 can charge at speeds of up to 270kW (as fast as the more expensive E-tron GT), the battery can be topped up from 10-80% in as little as 15 minutes – albeit only if you use one of the very fastest chargers around.
Audi has made a lot of very detailed (and complicated) changes to its battery technology for the Q6, and while some will be of interest only to chemistry teachers, you’ll notice the effects when you start racking up the miles.
For starters, the car uses new cells that pack more power in per square in
