Basic rear-wheel-drive models of Audi e-tron Q6 are coming

Even before the official market launch in August this year, Audi has announced a further drive variant for the Q6 e-tron. The rear-wheel drive increases the range and reduces the base price. However, the new Q6 e-tron Performance will not be the cheapest model in the Q6 range for long as another variant with a smaller battery is also foreseen.

The ‘Performance’ suffix to the name of the new variant may be somewhat confusing, as it is not a particularly powerful model but the weakest Q6 e-tron to date. At the world premiere in March 2024, Audi presented two all-wheel-drive versions, the Q6 e-tron quattro and SQ6 e-tron quattro, with 285 and 380 kW of power, respectively.

The new Q6 e-tron Performance uses the same 100 kWh battery (94.9 kWh net) as the all-wheel drive models but only has an electric motor on the rear axle. It produces 240 kW, offers 485 Nm of torque, and can accelerate the vehicle from a standstill to 100 kph in 6.6 seconds.

Longest range

As this drive variant enables a range of up to 641 kilometers according to the WLTP (all-wheel drive: maximum 625 kilometers) and can be recharged for up to 260 kilometres in ten minutes, the Performance version should be an “attractive choice for customers who are not only looking for a high electric range, dynamic performance and suitability for everyday use but also for very short charging stops,” according to Audi.

According to the press release, the electric motor on the rear axle is a ‘compact and powerful permanent magnet synchronous machine (PSM)’. This is unsurprising, as the all-wheel drive models also have a PSM at the rear and an asynchronous motor (ASM) at the front axle.

At 485 Nm, however, the torque of the rear-wheel drive model is lower than the torque of the rear engine in the 285 kW all-wheel drive model (580 Nm). Audi builds the engines itself in Györ, Hungary, and they also differ from the engines in the sister model on this PPE platform, the Porsche Macan.

With an unladen weight of 2.2 tonnes (2,275 kilograms with driver), the new rear-wheel drive model is exactly 125 kilograms lighter than the Q6 e-tron quattro. However, the payload is the same at 540 kilograms.

The rear-wheel-drive model can tow up to 2,000 kilograms on the trailer coupling, while the Quattro can tow 2.4 tonnes. The drawbar load (100 kilograms) and roof load (75 kilograms) are the same.

Cheapest Q6 variant to follow

The Audi Q6 e-tron Performance is now available to order for € 68,800 in Germany, and this variant is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2024. In Belgium, the starting price will probably be just under € 70,000.

The Q6 e-tron quattro is available in the Belux from € 75,900, and the top-of-the-range SQ6 e-tron quattro model from €93,800. All variants will be built at the main plant in Ingolstadt.

There is likely to be another variant below the Q6 e-tron Performance that has now been unveiled. Audi had already held out the prospect of two further variants with rear-wheel drive at the world premiere.

In addition to the model ‘with a focus on efficiency and range’, there will also be an entry-level version, which will likely be launched on the market as the Q6 e-tron without any other name suffix.

In this version, only ten instead of twelve battery modules will be installed in the underbody, resulting in an energy content of 83 kWh. It is not yet known when and at what price this entry-level model of the Q6 series will be launched on the market.