The Audi A6 is about to get some all-electric company.
The Shanghai motor show will play host to the Audi A6 E-Tron concept, which the Ingolstadt marque says is virtually identical to the production A6 E-Tron.
The A6 E-Tron sedan won’t replace the internal combustion engine-powered A6 and will instead be sold alongside it, while Audi says a wagon version is a possibility “if the market wants it”.
Featuring a 100kWh lithium-ion battery, the A6 E-Tron has a claimed electric range of more than 700km on the stricter WLTP standard.
It can also be charged at up to 270kW, which means you can add 300km of range in just 10 minutes.
The A6 E-Tron will use the new rear/all-wheel drive Premium Platform Electric (PPE) co-developed by Audi and Porsche.
Audi says its first PPE-based models will be introduced at the end of 2022 and its first model launch will be of the Q6 E-Tron SUV.
The platform will be used for a number of Audi and Porsche products, with executives saying it can support models a segment both above and below the A6 E-Tron.
Audi even suggests PPE could underpin B-segment (small) cars, while PPE models will be manufactured in both Europe and China.
According to Audi executives, it’s been developed with a greater focus on efficiency and with “completely different battery development” compared to the J1 platform underpinning the Audi E-Tron GT and Porsche Taycan.
Though it’s less performance-focused than the E-Tron GT, Audi executives say they “can imagine” an RS6 E-Tron.
The company has released outputs for only one variant, a sportier model that’ll produce 350kW of power and 800Nm of torque.
Audi will offer the A6 E-Tron with both rear- and all-wheel drive.
The suspension uses a five-link axle up front which Audi says is optimised for electric vehicles, while there’s a multi-link axle at the rear. The concept also includes air suspension with adaptive dampers.
The A6 E-Tron measures 4.96m long, 1.96m wide and 1.44m tall, extremely similar to the A6 sedan in overall dimensions.
Unusually, Audi has decided not to show the A6 E-Tron’s interior until the production model is revealed.
Expect only the door handles and the side detailing to differ on the production A6 E-Tron, with the new model set for an E-Tron GT-smooth transition from concept to showroom.
Production wheels may also be available in sizes smaller than the concept’s 22-inch ones.
The concept boasts an extremely slippery drag coefficient of just 0.22 plus short overhangs and a fastback silhouette that’s sleek, if not quite as rakish as that of the E-Tron GT.
There’s a full-width tail light assembly at the rear with digital OLED tail lights, while up front there’s a different look to the E-Tron GT with a larger grille area.
Audi’s trick camera-based rear-view mirrors are present, as are four high-resolution LED projectors on each corner of the vehicle which generate turn signal projections.
The digital matrix LED headlights have a new party trick. If the vehicle is parked, you can use your smartphone to play a video game projected onto the wall in front.
The A6 E-Tron will give Audi a rival to the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQE, which also uses a dedicated electric vehicle architecture.
The Tesla Model S is also a likely match-up for the Audi.
