Audi appears to be working on another RS-branded electric vehicle, this one based on the upcoming A6 e-tron.
The Audi RS6 e-tron will follow the RS e-tron GT but offer a more practical, upright sedan body, and give the Ingolstadt marque a rival to the Mercedes-AMG EQE and an electric counterpart to the combustion-powered RS6.
Our spy photographers believe this is an RS6 e-tron based on its large brake discs and red brake calipers.
If this is a prototype for the upcoming Audi RS6 e-tron, it will be the first time an RS6 has been available in a non-wagon body shape for over 10 years.
Unlike the BMW M5 and Mercedes-AMG E63, the RS6 has been wagon-only since the second-generation model went out of production in 2011.
The core A6 e-tron range, including the Avant wagon, will launch in 2024 per a report from Autocar.
The electric sedan and wagon range will arrive shortly after the Q6 e-tron crossover, with which it will share the new Premium Platform Electric co-developed by Audi and Porsche. PPE also underpins the upcoming Porsche Macan EV.
“At the end of this year, we will launch the Q6 E-tron, and then a few months later the A6 E-tron,” said Audi’s head of design, Marc Lichte.
“The A6 E-tron is exactly three years after we launched the e-tron GT, and on the A6 E-tron – as you could see on the concept car, which is very, very, very, very, very close to the production car – you can see that we will go sleeker and simpler.”
There appears to be one key difference between spied prototypes of the A6 and RS6 e-tron models, and that’s the front lighting – the electric models appear to have split-level lighting, a design trend that’s becoming increasingly popular in the industry.
Using the Porsche Macan EV as a guide, the RS6 e-tron could produce up to 450kW of power and 1000Nm of torque.
For reference, the current Audi RS6 pumps out 441kW and 800Nm from its twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine, while the RS e-tron GT produces 440kW of power and 830Nm of torque from its dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain. This is good for a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.3 seconds.
Audi A6 e-tron and A6 Avant e-tron concepts
The core A6 e-tron range will be offered with a choice of single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrains.
The concept sedan used a 100kWh lithium-ion battery with a claimed range of 700km on the stricter WLTP standard, 800V technology, and 270kW of charging capacity.
The Avant concept also used a 100kWh battery, along with a dual-motor AWD powertrain with 350kW of power and 800Nm of torque.
The concept’s suspension consists of a five-link axle up front optimised for electric vehicles, with a multi-link axle at the rear. It also features air suspension with adaptive dampers.
Sized similarly to the combustion-powered A6, the electric sedan and wagon have drag coefficients of just 0.22 and 0.24, respectively.
Audi chose not to reveal the interiors of either concept, and spy photos haven’t given us a close look.
We could expect to see, however, a more tablet-style infotainment touchscreen instead of Audi’s more classically integrated screens if the upcoming Q6 e-tron is a guide.
Audi is expected to transition more of its S- and RS-branded performance vehicles to electric powertrains as it plans to roll out at least 20 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025 and launch its final internal-combustion engine vehicle (ICE) by the same year.
Audi has committed to becoming an all-electric brand by 2033 in every market except China, with the European Union locking in new regulations that will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars, SUVs, and light commercial vehicles from 2035.
MORE: Everything Audi RS6
