Audi S6 e-tron review

Depending on your viewpoint, the Audi S6 e-tron is either moving with the times or having an identity crisis. You see, the latest – all-electric – S6 follows not only petrol versions but also diesels. 

One thing that hasn't changed is the S6's remit: to offer great performance in a practical body – in the S6 e-tron's case, a hatchback (Sportback) and an estate car (Avant).

It looks pretty compelling on paper, with lots of power fed to all four wheels, a big battery to give you lots of range and adjustable air suspension to make it capable through corners.

But does the first Audi S6 electric car have what it takes to go head to head with the quickest BMW i5 or the Porsche Taycan – two models which are also available as estate cars? Read on to find out...

With a focus on performance, every Audi S6 e-tron comes with 496bhp and has the potential to sprint from 0-62mph in just 4.1 seconds – or 3.9 seconds if you use its launch-control setting.

There’s no doubt that’s pretty quick, and you’re pushed reassuringly into your seat when you put your foot down, but it doesn’t feel as quick as the BMW i5 M60 xDrive or Porsche Taycan 4S. Indeed, both those rivals get off the line with even more vigour and will continue up to 62mph faster than the S6.

Interestingly, the S6 Avant e-tron estate car covers the sprint in the exact same time as the sleeker Sportback, making it a match for the BMW i5 Touring M60 and much faster than the VW ID 7 Tourer GTX. It’s still slower than a Porsche Taycan 4S Sport Turismo though.

With a 94.9kWh (usable) battery, the S6 e-tron will go further on a charge than all those electric car rivals. Indeed, with an official range of 402 miles, even the Taycan 4S Performance Battery Plus is no match.  

Every S6 e-tron comes with adaptive air suspension as standard and that does wonders for the way it drives. When you’re driving normally, it's firm enough to have great body control over undulating terrain but still manages to soak up potholes and imperfections with little fuss.

In Dynamic mode, everything tightens up, with the suspension getting stiffer and the steering heavier. As a result, the S6 e-tron becomes pretty fun to drive, exhibiting very little body lean, having lots of grip thanks to its quattro all-wheel-drive system and with lots of feedback from the steering. All that really lets the side down is the brake pedal, which lacks the feel of rivals.

Speaking of which, while the S6 e-tron is good to drive, the Porsche Taycan is on another level entirely, so if handling is at the top of your priority list, you’ll want to look at that rival instead.

Outside of the brake pedal, which is fine for everyday driving, the S6 e-tron is quite refined, with little wind noise and about the same level of road noise as you'll hear in a BMW i5. 

"As good as the Audi S6 e-tron is to drive, it’s hard to ignore that the Porsche Taycan 4S costs the same and is much better for performance and handling." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Taking a seat in the Audi S6 e-tron is a comfortable affair, with the driving position lining you up perfectly with the pedals and steering wheel.

The Sports Plus seats giving you plenty of electrical adjustment, including lumbar support, and loads of side bolster to keep you in place in fast corners. 

As with the Audi A6 e-tron, you sit quite low within the S6 e-tron’s interior, and that doesn’t help when it comes to visibility, especially in the sleek Sportback (hatchback) version.

You see, the sloping roofline compromises the view over your shoulder, while the letterbox rear window limits the amount that you can see out of the back. The Avant estate car is better, with large rear windows and a slightly larger back window, but the BMW i5 Touring is better still.

At least you get plenty of parking aids to help make reversing easier, including front and rear parking sensors, a surround-view camera and a system that allows the car to park itself. Meanwhile, standard-fit matrix LED headlights ensure you’ll see plenty at night, allowing you to leave full beam on at all times without dazzling other drivers.

Infotainment is displayed on a big 14.5in touchscreen within a large curved fascia that dominates the top of the dashboard and also includes an 11.9in digital driver's display. Both are high definition and really easy to read. 

The infotainment system itself is easy to navigate and responds to all your prods quickly. It’s just a shame that you won’t find any physical controls for the system, as you do in the BMW i5, which gets a physical controller. As a result, the S6 e-tron's system is more distracting to use while you're driving. 

The only buttons you’ll find are touch-sensitive ones on the steering wheel, and while they’re handy for setting the cruise control, they’re also easy to operate accidentally.

While interior quality in the regular Audi A6 e-tron is a little let down by some of the materials, that isn’t the case in the S6: every surface is covered with varied and quality-feeling materials. Sure, there are still some scratchy plastics, but they’re hidden out of the way in places you won't touch often.   

"I’d avoid the optional camera wing mirrors. The latest versions are better than the old ones but they’re still so frustrating and give you zero depth perception." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Regardless of whether you go for the Audi S6 e-tron in Sportback or Avant form, you’ll find there’s plenty of space in the front, even if you’re six feet tall. Indeed, you’ll find that there’s head room to spare and more than enough shoulder room to stop you rubbing shoulders with your passenger. 

There’s an impressive amount of front storage, with both versions getting a couple of cupholders, decent-sized door bins, a space within the central armrest and a space under the centre console for a smartphone. 

Space in the rear isn’t quite as impressive, with both versions offering a decent amount of leg room but not all that much head room. Granted, the Avant estate car is better thanks to its higher roofline, but neither is as generous as the equivalent BMW i5, with the Sportback’s sleek silhouette really eating into the head room.

The boot space, meanwhile, is 502 litres whether you go for the hatchback or estate S6. That’s fairly impressive in the Sportback, beating the i5 and the Porsche Taycan but means that the S6 Avant e-tron’s boot is around 70 litres smaller than the one in the BMW i5 Touring. 

Either way, you won’t struggle to fit your family’s holiday luggage or a big load of shopping back there. What’s more, the S6 e-tron comes with a handy 25-litre frunk (front boot), which gives you a place to store your charging cables and frees up boot space.

"I think it’s really handy that you get 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats. They let you feed long items through from the boot without compromising the outer rear seats." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Those after the Audi S6 e-tron Sportback or Avant as a cash purchase can expect to pay slightly less for the equivalent Porsche Taycan 4S and around the same for the equivalent BMW i5.

Customers buying on PCP finance will be happy to know that the S6 e-tron is predicted to depreciate at the same rate as the BMW i5 Touring and much slower than the Taycan, and that helps to keep monthly payments competitive. Company car drivers can expect to pay around the same BIK tax on all three.

There’s only one trim level available with the S6 e-tron but it comes packed with kit, including 21in alloy wheels, a panoramic glass sunroof with switchable transparency, soft-close doors, a Napa leather interior, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a Bang & Olufsen premium sound system with 16-speakers (including in the front headrests) and wireless phone-charging.

Providing you can find a charger that’s fast enough, the S6 e-tron’s maximum charging rate of 270kW means it should go from 10-80% in just 21 minutes. For context, that’s slightly faster than the BMW i5 and Mercedes-AMG EQS but slower than the Porsche Taycan, which can charge up to 320kW.

The S6 e-tron is too new to have been included in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. Audi placed 24th out of the 31 brands included, below BMW, Porsche and Mercedes. A three-year/60,000-mile warranty comes as standard with the S6 e-tron.

At the time of writing, the S6 e-tron has not been tested for safety by Euro NCAP. We can tell you that it comes with lots of safety equipment, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, front cross-traffic assist, traffic-sign recognition and driver-attention monitoring.

"Unlike with the BMW i5, there are not many options you can add to the Audi S6 e-tron but I don't see that as a problem because of the extensive equipment list." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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