Audi A6 e-tron review

Smooth, slick and surprisingly dynamic for an Audi. The steering’s too light and there’s no feedback whatsoever, but it at least feels like Audi has put some effort in – they’ve clearly driven BMW’s i5 during development of this car. Where a Merc EQE always feels heavy and lethargic, this actually has some handling smarts.

A quick disclaimer – so far, we’ve only driven the A6 e-tron in single-motor Performance form, but we have tried both Avant and Sportback, plus both suspension set-ups – a regular passive damper system and the adaptive air suspension that will only be fitted to the S6 in the UK. However, seeing as Merc has back-tracked recently and now opted to put air suspension on UK E-Classes, it’s no surprise to learn Audi comment that it will “review the technology offering during the A6 e-tron’s lifecycle and react to customer demand where necessary”.

Do I need the air suspension?

In a word, no. It does give a pillowy, calm ride over long undulations, but potholes still come punching through. The passive system is perfectly good enough – the heavy wheels (resist the 21s if you possibly can) do thump back occasionally, and on bumpy roads the suspension can lose control of the body and it all gets a little turbulent. But on the whole it’s calm and competent. One thing: the combination of winter tyres and concrete surfaces (the kind the south section of the M25 specialises in) managed to create a resonance akin to having a kazoo blown gently into your ear. Which was every bit as irritating as that sounds.

What’s the electric powertrain like?

Performance models get a single 375bhp motor, rear-wheel drive and should do 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds. Acceleration is predictably smooth and progressive, but it never quite feels 5.4-to-62 fast. Blame the 2,185kg kerbweight for dulling its edge.

Of course, you’ve no gearing to worry about so the full 417lb ft of torque is available at all times and will aid overtaking, and you’ve got wheel-mounted paddles to adjust the level of brake regen and to engage the driver that little bit more. The brake pedal itself is nice and firm and blends regen and friction braking successfully.

What about the steering?

The A6 e-tron gets a progressive steering setup and, with drive being sorted by the rear wheels, the Performance turns into corners keenly. It is light on feel, but if you’re already an Audi driver then you won’t notice much difference as you transfer from combustion power to electricity. There’s plenty of grip through corners too despite the Performance’s lack of all-wheel drive. But more than that the A6 turns smoothly and the chassis inspires confidence. It’s the kind of car where you sit back and whistle nonchalantly while the car works. You’re not really aware of what’s going on, but you quite enjoy the surreptitious ease of it.

Anything else I need to know?

A few points. The A6 e-tron gets a heavily raked windscreen and a surprisingly high dash, meaning that from the driver’s seat there isn’t actually a huge gap to see through between the rear-view mirror and the bottom of the windscreen. Rear visibility isn’t great in the Sportback either with just a small, lozenge-shaped rear window.

It does seem that all of that aero work has paid off in terms of efficiency though. We saw 3.6 mi/kWh in the Sportback after a mixed drive on town, country and motorway routes despite some, erm... enthusiastic testing. Meanwhile, over the course of 1,600 miles across Europe in January, almost all in sub-zero temperatures and including chunky autobahn stints, the Avant averaged 2.7mi/kWh. Not only did that mean an easy 250 miles on a charge, but it would receive charge at the claimed 270kW rate and sustain high speeds – the 21 minute 10-80 per cent recharge isn’t a sham.