► A new electric estate is here
► More practical than the saloon, lower than a Q6
► Up against the BMW i5 Touring and VW ID.7 Tourer
Welcome to the brave new world of electric estate cars. After years cranking out electric SUVs and crossovers, brands are now giving us practical EVs that offer improved dynamics and aren’t on stilts.
The A6 e-Tron Avant is the latest. Featuring the same aerodynamic-friendly looks, sophisticated interior tech and PPE platform as the A6, the Avant offers everything the saloon does but with the addition of a 502-litre boot (and 1422-litres of load space with the seats down).
Audi expects 43% of UK buyers to go for this rather than the saloon – but should they? To find out we drove a UK-spec example in e-Tron Editon 1 trim on the German Austria border. Unlike other trips where we’d fly in, I instead drove my Audi S3 long-termer all the way to Munich to do it. I drove an RS3 while we were there, too. More on that another time.
At a glance
Pros: Decent boot space, fantastic interior, punchy range
Cons: Interior tech may overload some, fidgety ride at the rear on smooth EU roads
What’s new?
Everything. The A6 Avant uses the same VW Group-developed PPE platform as the saloon. It’s also found underneath the Q6 e-Tron SUV and the all-electric Porsche Macan. There’s no ICE-powered version of the A6 either; Audi’s new naming strategy makes the evens EVs and the odd numbers ICE-powered.
But back to the EV: all A6 models get the same super-thin headlights as the saloon (the smallest fitted to an Audi), paired to a new Singleframe grille. Like so many other cars nowadays the A6 gets a split-headlight solution; the DRLs sit prominently at the top, while the rest are hidden underneath.
Inside, we get a similarly techy interior as the Q6 e-Tron, which itself represents a huge step up compared the A3 for example. It’s full of touchscreens – including one for the driver – but we’ll get into that more later on.
What are the specs?
The Porsche and Audi-developed PPE tech is the main reason for the A6 Avant’s impressive performance and range: its motors are around 30% smaller and 20% lighter than Audi’s previous solution, and it boasts efficient 800V architecture with up to 270kW charging.
There are three powertrains available; first the entry-level option pairs a rear-mounted 240kW (322bhp) motor to an 83kWh battery for 312lb ft of torque, a 130mph top speed and 0-62mph sprint time of 6.0 seconds. WLTP range for this combination is 361 miles. That’s just 22 less than the saloon, and it’s the only powertrain option with 225kW charging rather than 270kW charging.
Next, the e-Tron Performance uses a rear-mounted 280kW (375bhp) motor with a 100kWh battery for 417lb ft of torque and a 130mph top speed. It’s quicker though, with a 0-62mph sprint time of 5.4 seconds. Range goes up to 437 miles on account of the bigger battery.
The range is topped by the quattro, which gets motors on both axles and a 100kWh battery for a combined output of 340kW (456bhp) and 429lb ft of torque. Range is down to 417 miles, though you do get from 0 to 62mph in just 4.5 seconds, making it the quickest of the bunch.
When do you run out of juice, the 270kW charging speed of the Quattro and Performance means you’ll go from 10 to 80% capacity in just 21 minutes – or add 200 miles in just ten.
Audi’s UK bods reckon 55% of all A6 customers will pick the entry-level model, while 35% will go Performance and 5% will opt for the quattro.
What’s it like to drive?
Jumping from the driver-focused RS3 to this is night-and-day, but not necessarily in a bad way. Where the RS3 transmits every chunk of information from its winter tyres to your palms, the A6 Avant envelopes you in a quiet, refined cocoon.
On winding roads close to the Austrian border, the A6 Avant was as sure-footed as you’d expect from a 2110kg electric estate (the Quattro and Performance models are heavier at 2295kg and 2185kg respectively). Acceleration is smooth and linear and feels every bit as quick as the spec sheet says – and the steering is fine too. The Avant is relatively quick to change direction, with a sensible amount of roll on more challenging roads.
I didn’t attack the Alpine roads in the Avant with anywhere near the ferocity as we did with the RS3, but the brakes could’ve been better: in braking zones the Avant’s weight was more evident, there was a lack of bite and feel from the front discs. Tactile brake systems do exist on EVs – just drive a Porsche Taycan or Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce, for example – but those are both geared towards performance. The A6 e-Tron I drove was not, and performed well enough for its typical use cases.
The ride is fine if you’re a front passenger, with the Avant soaking up what little bumps I found on the relatively smooth route. However, that’s not the case for rear passengers, who found the ride to be a little busier. With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see just how the A6 Avant feels when we drive it back in the UK.
What about the interior?
Switching cars from my Audi S3 long-termer to the Audi A6 e-Tron Avant felt like travelling twenty years into the future. I’ll get to the touchscreens in time, because the most obvious difference is the all-new HUD display that sits above a new OED 11.9-inch cockpit. Sharper and covering more of the windscreen, it displays information but also virtually projects floating arrows and graphics onto the road. This should’ve been annoying, but was incredibly useful in practice and quickly communicated what the car’s various systems were detecting and doing.
While the HUD sits directly in your eyeline, a thin strip of light communicates other information such as which direction you’re indicating and if something is in your blind spot. The blind spot system also wraps a thin orange line around the video feed from the wing mirrors. It’s more subtle than I’d like, and when combined with the low brightness (compared to the headlight glare you’d get from a conventional wing mirror) the A6’s electric set up feels a little too clever for its own good.
Front and centre, though, is an all-new 14.5-inch touchscreen that curves around towards the driver. It takes up a good chunk of real estate in the cabin, and it’s where you deal with most of the infotainment stuff, but also simple functions like the heated seats and climate control. While the latter two are more accessible than VW’s efforts in the ID.3 for example, I’d be happier with buttons.
In the same way, the Avant’s new steering wheel uses haptic technology, which didn’t always work as I’d like. Some clicks worked, some didn’t, and using it never became second nature. We faced a similar issue in a Q4 e-Tron we had over the Christmas period.
There’s impressive stuff all around – even above. My test car had a sunroof with switchable transparency. Just push back on the sunroof button, and chunks of glass become instantly frosted or unfrosted.
The front passenger also gets a 10.9-inch MMI screen of their own, though privacy tech (as you get on ATMs) means it can’t distract the driver.
Before you buy
There aren’t many electric estates around, but the A6 Avant has two natural competitors – one of which is from the VW Group. BMW’s i5 Touring is the most obvious rival and starts around the same price as the entry-level Audi. Its 570-litre boot is a good chunk bigger than the 502-litre space in the Avant, arguably making it the more practical car for load-lugging. However, its range of 279 to 343 miles (depending on the trim you go for) is much lower than the Audi’s.
Meanwhile, the Volkswagen ID.7 has a punchy range (424-miles) and the biggest boot of the lot at 605 litres. However, its starting price of £52,240 points to its cost-saving interior and overall quality. It’s not bad by any means, but it lacks the premium feel of its rivals from Ingolstadt and Munich.
Finally, SUVs like the Q6 e-Tron (which shares a platform and interior tech with the Avant) and BMW iX are also worth a look, though if you’re still reading this, you’re probably prefer the dynamics and silhouette of an estate.
In terms of trims, the e-Tron starts at £64,300 for the Sport, £67,800 for the S line and £72,800 for the Edition 1 we drove which adds more tech and options. The Performance trim kicks off at £71,700, before rising to £75,200 for the S line and £80,200 for the Edition 1. The range-topping quattro starts at £76,800 for the Sport, £80,300 for the S line and finishes at £85,300 for the Edition 1. Only the S6 saloon is more expensive.
Once we’ve driven the other trims we’ll update this article with our thoughts.
Verdict
If you’re in the market for an electric estate you’ve not got many options, and if you’re after something relatively premium you’re left with even less. In entry-level e-Tron guise, the Audi A6 Avant is one of the few electric estates around, but it’s already one of the best.
It’s just as good as the BMW i5 Touring, which offers more space but less range, and it’s a strong premium option to the more affordable Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer. The handling may not be that exciting (at least in the e-Tron model we drove), but it delivers fantastic interior technology, a relatively compliant ride and decent straight-line performance – and does so with a range and boot space that make it one of the most practical cars in its growing class.
Specs are for Audi A6 e-Tron Avant Edition 1