Audi Q6 e-tron long-term test: report 4

Audi's latest electric SUV promises new tech and ultra-rapid charging, but what's it like to live with? We're finding out...

Published03 April 2025

The car Audi Q6 e-tron Sport Performance Run by Stuart Milne, digital editor

Why it’s here It’s the first model based on Audi’s newest platform, so we’re seeing what lies ahead for its next-gen EVs

Needs to provide a sumptuous and tech-laden appeal in line with its price, and slot straight in to family life

Miles covered 4745 Price £64,240 Target price £62,995 Price as tested £68,470 Official range 389 miles Test range 294 miles

3 April 2025 – Charging ahead

As a child, I loved Top Trumps. My favourite deck was Fast Cars, and I could tell you then – as well as now – that the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth takes 6.8sec to reach 60mph and the Vector W2 concept would pretty much conquer all.

I’m a car enthusiast, so those 0-60 times and engine sizes will always be of interest, but as we enter the electric era, the new performance metric is charging speed. It doesn't matter what speed your electric car can travel at – if it takes an age, to charge you’re going to arrive last.

And with a maximum charging rate of 260kW, my Audi Q6 e-tron is positively F1-like. In fact, only a handful of models, which include the Lotus Eletre SUV and Porsche Taycan – cars with price tags pushing into six figures with a few options – charge faster.

I’m grateful for those charging speeds, though, because at 94.9kWh, the usable capacity of the Q6’s battery is vast. Still, at full tilt, and assuming it’s plugged into a charger that delivers the advertised rate, it’ll take 22 minutes to go from 10-80%. In my experience, that’s little more time than it takes to walk across a service station car park, use the facilities and buy a bar of Dairy Milk.

Although I won’t pretend a home charge happens quickly. Without the luxury of exploiting the Q6’s 11kW AC capability, I’m stuck with my home’s 7.2kW output. At that rate I’ve frequently had to disconnect it mid-charge because taking it from flat to full takes more than 14 hours. Even the 20-80% charge I find myself encountering more often can still take nearly nine hours.

It’s not just the Q6 e-tron’s charging speed that makes an electrical pitstop easy. The electric SUV has two charging ports – one in each rear wing. The near-side is able to accept high-speed charging from public chargers, but both can accept power from an AC home charger which reduces the likelihood of trailing charge cables across your driveway, tripping up the postman.

There’s a function within the car’s infotainment screen to open either of the socket flaps electrically, but it’s far easier to give the cover a prod to open it. And I like that an LED strip atop the dashboard gives a very obvious indication that the car is charging.

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