Audi A6 e-tron Review 2025

During this unprecedented period of change within the car industry as it and consumers grapple with electric cars, different brands are approaching the challenge in a variety of ways, not least how it goes about marketing them. Does this mean that upmarket brands are focusing on the superficial rather than substance in this new era? Read our full Audi A6 e-tron Sportback review to find out.

Any Audi review these days benefits from first unpacking what its name means. Remember when the range was just a few As and Qs? So here we have the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback, one of two separate Audi model families currently available that wear an A6 badge, each available in a pair of different body styles. 

This one’s a posh electric five-door hatchback — or Sportback in Audispeak. Its tailgate is simultaneously its most mundane feature and its most important, because not only does its shape help make the car freakishly aerodynamic, it also makes this one of the most practical electric non-SUVs you can buy. That’s right, e-tron now the brand’s term for its EVs, having been introduced over a decade ago for its plug-in hybrids.

The majority of the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback’s closest rivals in size, shape and price are more traditional four-door saloons, including the BMW i5, the Mercedes EQE and the Porsche Taycan, meaning they’re far less flexible and practical. 

Yes, the larger, pricier and now left-hand drive-only Tesla Model S is also a hatchback, but aside from the imminently available Volvo ES90 such a body style is a rarity among cars like this. Hatchbacks have historically been perceived as being downmarket, associated with mainstream family transport and not something luxurious one might aspire to own. Perhaps that tide’s turning.

One thing that the A6 e-tron Sportback can’t be accused of is being cheap yet it feels price-appropriate given how refined and luxurious it is. It’s not flawless — the ride quality could do with being a little softer and you’ll occasionally want to rip off the optional door mirror-replacing rear-facing cameras and throw them into the nearest skip — but otherwise, this feels like everything a top-end electric car should be. Long driving range, ultra-rapid charging capabilities, staggeringly good build quality and a dual-screen dashboard display that evokes the same feelings you got when you first stepped into an IMAX cinema. 

To keep its price relatively reasonable there are two battery options for the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback with usable capacities of 75.8kWh and 94.9kWh — if you know your battery capacities, you’ll recognise that they’re both massive. Based on the official WLTP Combined cycle tests, the lowest range from the smaller battery is 346 miles, rising to 464 miles for the most efficient A6 e-tron with the bigger power pack, making any of them perfectly reasonable long-distance cars. 

Rear-wheel drive is standard — very unusual for an Audi — with a single electric motor mounted at the back under the boot floor. Four-wheel drive quattro versions add another motor to the front, meaning more power and traction.

You might assume that the rear-wheel drive arrangement means this is an Audi with a more BMW-ish character — a dynamic, fun-to-drive Audi. Nope. It’s still an Audi. That means it’s a little mundane to drive, with a sense that all engagement has been stripped from it in exchange for a sense of neutral solidity and refinement. 

Where the BMW i5 gives you driving ‘moods’ to select from, with lighting, screen graphics and sounds designed by a Hollywood composer to match — just for the LOLs — the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback has Comfort, Efficiency and Dynamic modes and thinks ‘LOL’ is the sort of thing an idiot would type. And unusually for a car of this type, it doesn’t come with adaptive suspension unless you get the quickest Audi S6 e-tron Sportback. 

The summary there is probably a bit harsh, because it is possible to have fun behind the wheel of the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback, it just doesn’t feel like that’s what it’s made for. 

It is sharper than the Mercedes EQE as well almost any of the big electric SUVs you might be considering alongside it. But the suspension and body control are on the softer side, the steering is over-light and overall it drives like the long, heavy car it actually is. Most of the time, you’ll appreciate that, but if you really haven’t let go of the idea that your upmarket EV should be both super-duper to drive and practical, then look at the BMW i5 Touring or the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo instead. 

Fancy Audis usually come with adaptive suspension setups, at least as an option, but the A6 e-tron doesn’t, with only the near-£100,000 S6 e-tron Sportback getting adjustable damping. To be honest it’s not a great loss dynamically because these things tend not to make much difference in day-to-day driving. What it does mean is if you specify a higher trim level A6 e-tron on massive wheels (they go up to 21 inches), you won’t be able to mitigate the harsher ride quality by sticking the suspension in softer Comfort mode. 

This is a quick, powerful and range-sufficient car. Regardless of which Audi A6 e-tron Sportback you choose, you should be able to drive from Newcastle to London without having to stop and charge. 

There are four drive systems to choose from and it’s here that there’s potential for some confusion as they’re not referred to by power outputs. Instead, the hierarchy starts with e-tron, then e-tron performance followed by e-tron quattro and the punchiest S6 e-tron quattro. A single-speed transmission that’s used the same way you would an automatic is standard.

The entry-level A6 e-tron features a single motor installed under the boot floor driving the rear wheels. It’s only available with the 75.8kWh battery, producing 326PS and 435Nm of torque for an electronically capped top speed of 130mph and a 0-62mph time of 6.0 seconds when launch control is used — it drops to 7.0 seconds when it isn’t. 

Still with a single, rear-mounted motor is the A6 e-tron performance, albeit with the larger 94.9kWh battery pack. Output is increased to a peak of 380PS and 565Nm, propelling the Audi to an identical top speed but trimming the 0-62mph benchmark down to 5.4 seconds.

A second motor nestled up front ups the credentials of the A6 e-tron quattro as well as giving it the additional traction of four-wheel drive. Total outputs are 462PS and 755Nm for a 0-62mph dash of 4.5 seconds when launch control’s in use, stretching by a barely perceptible two-tenths of a second if it’s switched off. No change to the 130mph top speed.

At the pinnacle of the lineup is the similarly dual-motor Audi S6 e-tron quattro, the ante increased further to 551PS. Its top speed’s been relaxed a little, allowing it to reach 149mph, while the 0-62mph time is recorded at 4.1 seconds without launch control and a best of 3.9 seconds with the traction-enhancing wizardry in action —that’s as quick as the first-generation V10-engined Audi R8. 

No bother here — the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback was rated five stars by Euro NCAP in 2025, including a 92% score for adult occupants and 91% for kids.  

Standard safety kit includes adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, traffic sign recognition and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) that detects pedestrians and cyclists are all standard.

Just as important, the infotainment system is intuitive to use so you won’t have your eyes off the road for long messing about with menus, although the climate control adjustments are also screen-based which is less ideal. 

Its LED headlamps are among the brightest you’ll find, adapting their light pattern depending on the sort of environment you’re in. The rear lights can be specified as fancy OLED panels that serve as a warning to others behind you —if someone’s approaching too quickly, either a driver or a cyclist, the lights will show a hazard warning triangle to grab their attention. Clever stuff. 

Good tow car this Audi A6 e-tron Sportback, with all versions capable of pulling a braked trailer capacity of 2100kg, which is brilliant for an EV. 

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the mechanical tow bar is an expensive option at £1,125. But like the Oxford Students’ Union, it’s a clever bar — you can steer an attached trailer using the Audi’s multimedia touchscreen and it has an auto-braking function to prevent you reversing into something. 

The simple but very effective decision to make the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback a hatchback rather than a saloon with a separate boot lid is a key part of its appeal. Not only because it endows it with an enormous tailgate which makes it much easier to load a golf bag or other bulky lifestyle aids of choice into the boot, but also because its tapered profile helps make the car more slippery than a politician’s Q&A session. The combination of the sloping roof, closed front grille, a properly flat underfloor and standard rear-pointing cameras instead of door mirrors make it so. 

The trade-off is a lack of rear headroom. It’s not problematic — suitable for six-foot adults, just — but if you are planning on carrying taller people regularly, a proper estate would be better. The Audi A6 e-tron Avant, say? 

Surprisingly, the Avant and Sportback have identical boot space at 502 litres when loaded up to the height of the luggage cover, albeit the Avant has more when the rear seats are dropped and it’s measured to ceiling height — 1700 litres versus the Sportback’s 1330-litre maximum. Under the bonnet is a further 27 litres of space, ideal for hiding charging cables out of the way.

Rear legroom is also great in the A6 e-tron Sportback and because there’s no raised transmission tunnel running up the middle of the car, even the middle rear seat is relatively accommodating.

You know what you’re getting with the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback — outstanding build quality and finish from top to bottom. It’s most obvious at the surface, where the mix of Alcantara faux suede and soft-touch plastics just feel sensational. 

As do the few physical controls there are, including a drive selector that’s more of a big switch than a lever. Sadly, none of the ones present are used for operating the climate control’s functions, with everything accessed via the multimedia touchscreen. At least they are permanently displayed. 

There are plenty more elements that scream ‘quality’, including soft-closing doors, wonderful interior lighting that includes illuminated seatbelt latches and the infotainment touchscreen that responds instantly to a finger tap. 

The only real issue we have with the A6 e-tron Sportback from a tactility perspective are the haptic panels on the steering wheel. They feel weird and proper buttons would be better. Volkswagen is phasing them out as its cars are updated and replace, so Audi might end up doing the same thing.

The Audi A6 e-tron Sportback has the firm’s latest twin-screen setup, combining a 12.0-inch instrument panel and a 14.5-inch touchscreen housed in a vast curved display. 

Introduced in 2024 with the Audi Q6 e-tron, it’s hugely impressive, featuring sharp graphics, rapid software and a clear focus on intuitiveness. There will always be those who can’t get on with a screen doing everything in a car, but if this one doesn’t convince you, not much will. 

It’s not as ‘fun’ as the screen-accessed options in a Tesla Model 3 and nor is it as intuitive to use at the existing BMW iDrive system, but it works well and has some really clever tech buried in the software. That includes AI that learns what you like and will perform tasks such as adjusting the climate control and seat heating for you based on the ambient temperature. 

The head-up display is super-impressive, pin-sharp and includes augmented reality navigation graphics when using the integrated system but not those of mirrored smartphone apps. The interior lighting is integrated into the software too, with the Dynamic Interaction strip that runs along the base of the windscreen displaying charging status, hazard warnings and signalling left or right when you’re indicating.

Starting at north of £60,000 and ending at a possible six figures with options, the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback is not a cheap car, but it feels as expensive as it is. Because it’s electric there are plenty of ways to make running it cheaper than an Ibiza Final Boss t-shirt, so that’s in its favour. 

Prices for the rear-wheel drive, single-motor, smaller batteried Audi A6 e-tron Sportback Sport start at £62,540, but it comes with loads of kit as standard. You’ll need £3500 more for an S Line specification version, which is mostly cosmetic enhancements but does have firmer suspension for a sportier — less comfy — drive. For the full-fat Edition 1 trim you’re looking at a further £5000 on top of that.

Those pricing steps continue with the other power choices, all of which come with the largher battery. In Sport specification the A6 e-tron performance costs £68,810 while the four-wheel drive-equipped e-tron quattro will set you back £73,910.

At the top of the range and solely available in Edition 1 trim is the Audi S6 e-tron Sportback — set aside upwards of £97,540 for that.

We’re still in the phase where the running costs of a big electric car at this are at odds with what the car feels like and actually costs to buy. It’s a phase that’s eroding all the time and which will soon be a memory, but for now, you can run this £70-£100,000 for relative peanuts as a company car. And slightly more expensive peanuts if you buy one privately. 

For those user choosers paying Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax, EVs are a no-brainer as they all, the A6 e-tron included, are in the 3% band. Compare that with a combustion-engined Audi A6 Saloon for a difference of several thousand pounds. 

Since April 2025 there’s no Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) advantage to choosing an electric car, with an annual bill the same as non-EVs from year two onwards. Similarly, they are also now subject to the Expensive Car Supplement fee from years two to six when they cost in excess of £40,000, which all A6 e-tron Sportbacks do.

Audi A6 e-tron Sportback: Range and charging

The Audi A6 e-tron Sportback’s battery options are both sizeable and hold a lot of charge, so you’ll find that topping one to full at a public rapid charger will cost a fortune. For instance, to fill the bigger battery, which has a 94.9kWh usable capacity, would cost around £70 at a 75p/kWh charging station. By contrast, it would cost less than £8 using an EV-specific off-peak home tariff.

You could argue that the two battery options in the A6 aren’t far enough apart. Is the extra 19.1kWh usable capacity of the bigger battery life-changing? It’s an 80-mile difference on paper, probably close to 50 in real life. The point is both batteries should be more than adequate, because both are theoretically, capable of getting the car from Edinburgh to Milton Keynes on a single charge. 

The 75.8kWh battery fitted to the entry-level Audi A6 e-tron has a best-case WLTP Combined cycle range of 384 miles, while 94.9kWh in the e-tron performance can potentially go the furthest with a high claim of 464 miles. Longest range for the A6 e-tron quattro is 440 miles while the most powerful S6 e-tron quattro is rated at up to 407 miles. 

Audi’s domestic flat-to-full recharge times are when using an 11kW connection, although most UK residences’ wallboxes would be limited to 7.4kW, so you can add at least another couple to the 8 hours quoted for the 75.8kWh battery and 10 hours for the larger one.

When using DC ultra-rapid public chargers, both batteries have a maximum flow rate of 270kW, meaning a 10-80% replenishment takes 21 minutes. That’s plenty of time to wander into the service station, relieve your bladder, complain about the price of the Wine Gums in WH Smith, wait for your Whopper meal to arrive and walk back to your car. 

Across the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback are three levels of trim for the core line-up — Sport, S Line and Edition 1. The highest performance S6 e-tron Sportback is only available in Edition 1 guise, albeit with some extra features.

Standard equipment for the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback Sport includes:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• LED headlights with automatic main beam
• Double-glazed acoustic windows
• Keyless entry
• Electrically operated tailgate
• 360-degree camera system
• Efficiency boosting battery heat pump
• 11.9-inch virtual cockpit display screen
• 14.5-inch MMI multimedia touchscreen
• Genuine and faux leather upholstery
• Heated front seats
• Three-zone climate control
• Drive Select modes
• Adaptive cruise control
• Lane-change assistant

Upgrade to the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback S Line for: 

• S Line-specific body kit
• 20-inch twin-5-spoke alloy wheels
• Dark-tinted rear privacy windows
• Body-colour grille
• Black side skirt inserts
• S Line front sports seats
• Black headlining
• Stainless steel pedals
• Illuminated door sills with S logo
• Progressive steering
• Sports suspension

Further features for the Audi A6 e-tron Sportback Edition 1 include:

• 21-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels
• Matrix LED headlights with dynamic lighting and animations
• Illuminated rear Audi logo incorporated into the tail lights
• Panoramic glass sunroof with switchable transparency
• Dinamica faux suede and leather upholstery
• Super sports front seats with heating, ventilation and massage functions
• Heated outer rear seats
• Passenger-side 10.9-inch touchscreen
• High-grade soft-wrap dashboard
• Three-zone climate control
• Upgraded adaptive cruise with advanced assists
• Bang & Olufsen Premium 3D sound 20-speaker system
• Full LED interior lighting package

Extra features specific to the Audi S6 e-tron Sportback Edition 1 include:

• 21-inch Audi Sport 5-arm dynamic alloy wheels
• Adaptive S air suspension
• Digital OLED rear lights
• Fine Nappa leather upholstery
• Augmented reality head-up display