A striking silhouette and a suite of new tech make the far-driving A6 E-Tron EV a legit contender in the battle of battery-powered cars.
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00:00This is the Audi A6 e-tron, Audi's new fastback EV.
00:19Now the e-tron is going to come in a lot of different configurations with many, many different
00:23motor setups, but right here is what we're looking at is the quattro dual motor setup.
00:28This car is a European spec model.
00:29It doesn't totally correlate with the car that's coming to the U.S., but we can glean
00:34the majority of the information we need to know for the car that's coming to our market.
00:37So up front, you have this aerodynamic grill with the black Audi single frame.
00:43That's how you can tell that this is an EV and not one of Audi's ICE models.
00:47You have Audi's new four ring design, and in the U.S., this will be available as a light
00:52up accent.
00:53This car is a lot more sleek looking than some of Audi's ICE models.
00:57Quattro is at the utmost importance with the body design.
01:00So you have a 0.21 coefficient of drag, making it very, very slippery and getting incredible
01:07range.
01:08Expect the U.S. model to be around 300 miles of range, which is excellent.
01:11Coming further back on the car, this car has Audi's digital rear view mirrors, which will
01:16not be available in the U.S.
01:17We'll have our standard, regular, conventional mirrors.
01:20On the sides here, this car is rolling on 21 inch wheels.
01:24A variety of sizes from 19 to 21 inches will be available with a lot of different designs.
01:29This car is all about design and style, so Audi is offering tons of customization.
01:34Coming further along in the car, we have these lovely flush door handles.
01:38You reach in here, and Audi's designer says that this is for ergonomics and for comfort
01:43when you open the car.
01:45These soft close doors are available too, so you can put very little effort into closing
01:48the car, which we love.
01:51Coming further back, there's one charge port on this side, and then there's another charge
01:55port on the other side.
01:56And while we're talking about the ports, let's talk about the charging itself.
01:59Every A6 has 800 volt architecture, which leads to incredibly fast charging.
02:04These cars will do 270 kilowatts maximum, which is very good for this segment.
02:08You'll get 10 to 80 percent charge in about 21 minutes, which is exceptional.
02:13So you'll spend very little time at the charger.
02:14If we can come back all the way to the rear of the car, we have more of Audi's awesome
02:19lighting signatures.
02:20So these are configurable with the front headlights to eight different designs, and
02:25you can fiddle with those in the screen inside the car.
02:28As a first for Audi, they have this beautiful light-up rear four-ring logo.
02:34So this is a new feature for Audi, adding more personalization and customization to
02:39the ownership experience.
02:40One of the other cool accents about the A6 e-tron are these fuser elements down here
02:44as well.
02:46That was an area where the design and dynamics teams work together to make a car that is
02:52more efficient and also sporty looking.
02:55Audi offers the A6 e-tron with three different motor setups.
02:58The base model has a single motor in the rear, good for a zero to 60 time of 5.2 seconds.
03:03Dual motor models like this one were Audi's quattro badging.
03:07They accelerate from zero to 60 in about 4.3 seconds.
03:10Now if we step over here, the top of the line S6 Sportback has a dual motor setup that's
03:16good for a zero to 60 time of just 3.7 seconds.
03:20That's because this car has a maximum output of 542 horsepower.
03:24So what makes the S6 different?
03:25Well, it has a different front fascia with this alloy optic design and it has these silver
03:31mirror caps as well.
03:32And then in the rear, it has different diffuser elements with little accents on the back bumper
03:37and it has a different spoiler.
03:38The interior is also different, so let's get inside and check it out.
03:43The inside of the new A6 and S6 Sportbacks is familiar to anyone who's seen any of the
03:48new Audi products.
03:49That means it has a wraparound interior design that enhances driver comfort and focus.
03:54You can reach the screen with your hand without reaching at all, which is really nice.
03:58And this new curved glass, which is featured under a look of the Audi single frame grille,
04:04houses two large touchscreen displays that run Audi's latest infotainment software.
04:09Passengers also get a screen.
04:11This touchscreen runs the same infotainment software and gives passengers most of the
04:15same capabilities that the driver has access to as well.
04:18Other accents that this S model has are a unique steering wheel with S badging, seats
04:22that have more aggressive bolstering, and a cockpit that focuses a little bit more on
04:26the Alcantara to give it a more sporty appearance.
04:29So the interior of the S6 and A6 are just as upscale and luxurious as the exterior.
04:35And they communicate that the car is intended for sporty and luxurious driving.
04:41The Audi enthusiasts that are watching this video might be wondering, Billy, are we getting
04:45the A6 e-tron Avant?
04:48And unfortunately, the answer is not yet.
04:51And no, Audi says that this model is not coming to the United States with its beautiful long
04:56roofline and elegant proportions.
04:59Unfortunately, this car is reserved for other places in the globe, like Germany and Europe,
05:03and they'll be able to have access to this car, which has largely the same powertrain
05:06specs as the Sportback model.
05:08The upside to our Sportback is that we get a lot more range.
05:11So there are pros and cons to the different body styles.
05:14But unfortunately, this sleek looking wagon is not coming to the United States.
05:17Let's come back to the A6 e-tron Sportback, which is the model we are getting.
05:22This model goes on sale and will be available at the end of this year to put a reservation
05:26down.
05:27And then it goes on sale officially and is available in showrooms in the spring and summer
05:31of 2025.
05:33The A6 e-tron Sportback is a fitting replacement for the internal combustion A6 of the past.
05:39This new model has luxurious exterior proportions, high-performance electric driving that's also
05:44efficient as well.
05:45So with a low coefficient of drag, great aerodynamics, this car is going to be a very worthy competitor
05:52in the midsize luxury electric car segment.
05:55For MotorTrend, I'm Billy Ray Block.
06:02For MotorTrend, I'm Billy Ray Block.