Audi has been snapped testing a faster version of its Q6 e-tron SUV at the Nurburgring.
Potentially an S or RS model, the Q6 e-tron pictured here has a sportier front bumper than the regular car we’ve also seen testing recently. It also has bigger wheels, and red brake calipers hiding behind them.
The split-level headlights are in keeping what we’ve seen from previous prototypes, and from what we’re expecting from the next Audi A6, while the slim tail lights share their LED signatures with the latest A3.
It would make sense for Audi to be developing a proper performance version of the Q6, given it’ll share its underpinnings (dubbed PPE) with the overtly performance-oriented Porsche Macan EV.
Cars based on PPE are expected to offer features like all-wheel steering, an 800V electrical system with fast charging up to 350kW, and torque vectoring.
The Q6 e-tron is expected to offer a range of single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains, with range of up to 480km.
A dual-motor RS Q6 e-tron could pump out as much as 440kW of power. The RS e-tron GT, for reference, produces 440kW of power (475kW in boost mode) and 830Nm of torque, good for a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds.
The Q6 e-tron will slot into a sprawling line-up of Audi SUVs, which will continue to include combustion-powered models until 2033 – and potentially beyond in China.
Previous spy photographs have also given us a glimpse of the Q6 e-tron’s screen set-up, consisting of a large, free-standing digital instrument cluster and a tablet-style central touchscreen.
It could be 2024 by the time we see the Q6 e-tron, which was initially meant to launch during 2023.
Reports from Europe quoting sources within Audi and Porsche suggest challenges at the Volkswagen Group’s software subsidiary, Cariad, are to blame.
