► New Audi A6 gains PHEV setup
► Longer electric range, plenty of new tech
► A good car with some major letdowns
Audi has never quite managed to crack making good plug-in hybrids. The electric ranges have consistently lagged behind Mercedes and the driving experience has never been able to compete with BMW. In many ways its PHEVs have seemed a bit of an afterthought.
Until now that is, as Audi is rolling out a new generation of hybrid powertrains to its line-up of cars – the latest being the new A6. Now sensibly called the e-Hybrid, rather than the questionable ‘TFSI e’, it brings some significant improvements. On paper, at least. So has Audi finally made a PHEV we’d recommend above its German rivals?
At a glance
Pros: Excellent hybrid powertrain, decent electric range, agile considering its size
Cons: Small boot, firm ride on sports suspension, various technical niggles
What’s new?
The A6 e-Hybrid’s engine is largely unchanged compared to the previous Audi A6 TFSI e, but the big difference is a far larger battery, with a capacity 45 per cent larger than before.
Audi has also boosted the level of recuperation available from the regenerative braking, with sound insulation said to be improved by 30 per cent thanks to revised door and window seals.
It’s worth having a quick reminder of the new A6 in general. Originally meant to be called the A7, Audi (thankfully) changed its mind at the last minute. The A6 is now underpinned by Audi’s Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) setup, as already seen on the new A5 and Q5 SUV. The big changes – new mild-hybrid engines, improved aero and a whole new interior setup which we’ll come onto later. There’s a new exterior design too, dare we say we think it looks quite good?
What are the specs?
Like its rivals from Mercedes and BMW, the A6 e-Hybrid uses a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, putting out 248bhp. It’s joined by an 141bhp electric motor housed within the seven-speed S tronic automatic gearbox, and combined produces 295bhp and 332lb ft of torque. All e-Hybrid models also come with quattro all-wheel-drive, while four-wheel steering (an expensive extra on petrol and diesel A6s) is included as standard.
Accelerating to 62mph takes bang on six seconds, and it’ll go onto a 155mph top speed – or 87mph in electric mode.
But of arguably greater interest is the size of its battery, which has increased by around 45 per cent compared to its predecessor to a net 20.7kWh capacity, which is larger than both that in the Mercedes E300e and BMW 530e. Audi claims an electric range of 60-65 miles (depending on spec) and we were getting around 40-45 miles in real-world driving.
It’s roughly double what you’d have got previously and make it much better suited for commuting. That said, you’ll still get a few more electric miles out of the hybrid E-Class, but it’s more than the 5 Series.
The A6’s CO2 emissions of 50g/km-plus also make it a more expensive company car than the E-Class, with claimed fuel economy figures of 113-129mpg, depending on spec. With a few longer trips and lots of local miles covered on electricity, we managed to match such figures, though. You’ll still get around 35-40mpg with the battery depleted too, which isn’t bad for a large petrol car like this.
What’s it like to drive?
Let’s start with the good, and that is the hybrid powertrain. The engine is smooth and the transition between electric and electricity is generally inoffensive – it’s not seamless enough that you won’t notice, but it’s still very refined. You can set the car up to either start in hybrid or electric modes, and it’s worth doing the latter for shorter journeys as the engine is quite keen to turn on at anything above 50mph. Even in ‘EV’ it still has enough pace in normal driving.
When you get the two power sources working together, the e-Hybrid is suitably brisk at getting up to speed – for the time being it’s the quickest A6 you can buy.
Standard four-wheel steering is a massive bonus, too. The A6 has never been a small car but at just shy of 5m now, it’s a bit of tank these days. But the rear wheels turning makes it impressively easy to manoeuvre, and it never feels as large as it is. At higher speeds the four-wheel steering also drums up its agility, aiding a tight turn-in to corners and making the A6 feel surprisingly agile, while keeping impressively flat.
You can partly thank the sports suspension fitted to our Launch Edition spec for that. What you won’t thank it for is the ride’s harshness, especially around town or broken surfaces, it really doesn’t offer the levels of comfort you’d expect from an A6, feeling quite unsettled and firm, though it gets significantly better at speed and is impressively hushed on a motorway. Air suspension is an option – we drove it back-to-back with a diesel A6 fitted with it and it was a true transformation.
What’s it like inside?
The A6’s interior mirrors that of Audi’s new-generation models, such as the A5 and Q5, and it’s quite a departure from its previous layout. A wraparound digital instrument cluster and touchscreen are merged and it looks superb. It takes time to get used to, though, and it’s certainly not as intuitive as Audi’s previous models, with climate menus now nestled into the screen, albeit always present on the screen. On higher-spec models the front-seat passenger gets their own touchscreen, a feature we continue to think is utterly pointless.
High-spec models get plenty of leather and Alcantara to drive up the quality, but it doesn’t take long to find bits of trim that feel like they shouldn’t be on a £70,000 car – the steering wheel buttons and gloss black centre console, in particular, letting the side down.
The rear-seat space also isn’t quite as generous as you’d expect of a car of this length to be, though adults will still be able to sit behind all but the tallest of drivers with ease. Headroom wasn’t a problem on our saloon test car, but the estate would be more useful in this respect. Pity the middle rear-seat passenger will have nowhere for their feet to go.
But the biggest letdown is the boot, which reduces from 492 to just 354 litres on the saloon and 503 to 404 litres on the Avant estate. Both are considerably less than rivals, and the space on offer in the saloon is particularly shallow, even if it does stretch back a long way.
Before you buy (trims and rivals)
Trim levels on the A6 e-Hybrid mirror those of petrol and diesel variants, with a choice of Sport, S line and Edition 1 trims. Standard kit is generous, including 18-inch alloy wheels, all-wheel steering, matrix LED headlights, leather seats and adaptive cruise control.
The popular S line brings sports suspension, sports seats, different bumpers and a black headlining. Bizarrely, though, for an S line the wheels are no different. Above this, the Edition 1 comes with 20-inch alloy wheels, a black styling package, suede and leather upholstery and a front passenger screen.
Our best advice, stick with the entry-level Sport trim and keep it on the standard 18s, or if you insist on going for anything else, make sure it’s an Edition 1 and choose air suspension (the only grade you can have it on) as an £1,755 option.
On the subject of pricing, the A6 e-Hybrid starts from £61,735 as a saloon, rising to £68,680 for an Edition 1. An Avant will cost roughly £2,000 more.
Before you buy, though, it’s worth a mention of the problems we encountered with our test car. Up first, regular temperamental driver assistance warnings that meant features such as adaptive cruise, lane assist, traffic sign recognition wouldn’t work. Roughly every fourth time we got in the car it would throw up such error messages.
We also had a warning for the hybrid system was also a concern, but above all was a rear door that wouldn’t close because of the silly door buttons that don’t work like a normal latch. Our A6 went to Audi with a ratchet strap so it couldn’t be opened. On a £70,000 Audi…
Verdict
Audi seems to have finally mastered the plug-in hybrid formula, with a powerful and crucially efficient PHEV setup that can easily compete with Mercedes or BMW. The new A6, in many ways, feels like a ‘proper’ Audi. Good to drive, refined and with a smart interior that isn’t too difficult to use.
But it’s a shame the quality just isn’t there for it to properly succeed both in terms of material finish but also the build. Our test car’s numerous technical issues were too concerning to ignore, and we know from driving various other new Audis that they’re far from unique to this A6.
Couple that with an impractical boot and a bad combination of large alloys and sports suspension on our test car, and it’s a reminder of how important it is to spec your car wisely. For us, a standard diesel A6 saloon with air suspension is the better combination. Or if you insist on a hybrid and boot space is even a small concern, look at the BMW 530e.