The Q6 e-tron boasts powerful electric motors and a cutting-edge lithium-ion battery, offering a range of up to 625 km on a single charge. Truth be told, that’s more than enough for most everyday commutes and road trips. And when you do need to plug in, the Q6 e-tron supports ultra-fast 800-volt charging, getting you back on the road in a flash. The real issue here, would be finding a charger in South Africa to fully take advantage of this charging speed.

As with recent models, Audi has proven that it isn’t just known for its performance; it’s also a leader in automotive lighting. The Q6 e-tron takes things a step further with the world’s first active digital light signature. This innovative system uses software and OLED technology to create a dynamic and customizable lighting experience. Not only does it look cool, but it also enhances safety by communicating with other vehicles and pedestrians on the road.

Inside, the Q6 e-tron’s interior is all about comfort and connectivity. With a spacious layout and ample legroom, it offers a luxurious feel for all passengers. But the real star of the show is the digital stage. This consists of a curved OLED display and a passenger display, providing intuitive control over the car’s features and infotainment system. This “digital stage” puts all the information you need at your fingertips, with an optional head-up display projecting key details onto the windshield. Audi’s voice assistant with AI support is also on board, learning your preferences and offering helpful suggestions along the way.

Elsewhere, the car uses recycled materials throughout its construction, minimizing its environmental footprint. Additionally, Audi is transforming its production facilities to accommodate electric vehicle production, ensuring a sustainable manufacturing process.

While there’s no confirmed date yet, the Audi Q6 e-tron is being considered for a South African launch sometime between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. We’re holding thumbs for the former.

We’ve listed five of our favourite features;

Goodbye side mirrors, hello OLED

Cameras in place of side mirrors have been a mainstay of concept cars for years now, but Audi has brought them to a production vehicle. The e-tron’s Virtual Side Mirrors do away with the chunky appendages all other cars sport, replacing them with cameras mounted on slender metal stalks.

On the inside of the car, mounted at the junction of the A-pillar, the door trim, and the edge of the dashboard, there’s a 7-inch OLED screen embedded. That beams a real-time picture from the external cameras. However, because it’s all digital, Audi can switch up what’s shown depending on the situation. When you’re parking, for instance, the e-tron can show you a different view compared to when you’re on the highway.

The upshot isn’t just aesthetic, though the electric SUV does look good without traditional mirrors. Audi claims the virtual mirrors help cut drag by between 2- and 7-percent, leaving the EV more aerodynamic as a result. That should pay dividends when it comes to range.

Now for the bad news. The Virtual Side Mirrors will be offered as an option here when the e-tron launches. If it were up to me, I’d make them standard, and the traditional glass mirrors an option.

But wait, there are more screens

Audi led the game when it came to replacing analog instrumentation with digital, and the Virtual Cockpit unsurprisingly makes an appearance in the Audi e-tron, too. The driver gets a widescreen LCD panel to show speed, media information, and a full-screen map if they choose. In the e-tron it also has special EV graphics, showing things like battery charge and range.

In the center stack, meanwhile, just about everything is controlled by a pair of touchscreens. Audi calls it MMI touch response, and it’s the same infotainment system as we’ve seen used in the A8 and Q8.

The upper display is the larger of the two, and the e-tron uses that for navigation and multimedia. Like the Q8 and A8 it is fully connected, capable of tapping into cloud-based voice recognition along with local processing. It’s also where you access your paired phone. New for the e-tron are EV-related menus, showing information like how far the remaining charge will take you, which driving mode you’re in, and even how you could coax more km out of the battery if you turn off the climate control or other electronics.

The lower screen handles cabin comfort and text entry. It’s where the e-tron’s air is all managed from, including the heated and cooled seats, and heated steering wheel. Audi also uses it to show a QWERTY keyboard, but as we saw in the A8 you can also sketch out words with your fingertip and have handwriting recognition decipher them.

There are still some physical controls

The e-tron doesn’t have a transmission, and so Audi’s gear selector has a straightforward job. A simple slider switches the SUV between drive, neutral, and reverse. There’s a button for park.

Given those minimal controls, the size of the selector itself might seem unexpectedly big. That’s because the leather-topped surface is designed to be a wrist-rest, supporting your forearm as you tap and swipe at the lower touchscreen.

On the steering wheel, meanwhile, are buttons which can control most of the electronic features without you having to relinquish the helm. That includes switches to page through the Virtual Cockpit panes, shortcuts for the phone and voice control, and a mappable key that can be assigned to the driver’s choice of features. Cruise control is managed with a separate stalk behind the wheel.

Green motoring can be luxurious, too

You might be saving the planet with your zero-emissions SUV, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer a hair-shirt cabin at the same time. Audi is among the best when it comes to interior trim, fit, and finish, and the e-tron is no different. Expect real brushed aluminum along with Valcona leather, in among the piano-black trim.

LED pinstripes with customizable colours certainly fits with the e-tron’s personality, though the ambient lighting is a cost option. As is, in fact, contrasting colours – like bright orange – to the leather seat stitching. Audi says it’s meant to look like tracks on a circuit board. We see the vision.

That may be subtle, but the Bang & Olufsen 3D surround sound system shouldn’t be. Its 16 speakers are also optional, though we suspect many e-tron drivers will take advantage of the relative hush of the SUV’s cabin to enjoy their favorite tracks.

Surely, electric means practical

The Audi e-tron should really put the “Utility” in SUV when it launches: after all, there are some core architecture advantages when you use electric motors rather than an ICE drivetrain. Even though you’re getting Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive, without the driveshaft running the length of the vehicle as you’d find in, say, a Q7, the whole floor of the cabin can be flat.

That pays dividends for legroom, particularly when you consider just how much interior space e-tron occupants are getting. Although the wheelbase is similar to that of the Q7, Audi opted to only fit two rows in the electric SUV. That may mean seating for five at most, rather than the seven you’ll get in a Q7, but it does leave them riding in far greater comfort. You should see the ample boot space.

Wrap-up

There’s no denying that the Audi e-tron is shaping up to be an interesting addition to the electrification options out there. Right now, the biggest questions we have are how many units will Audi move.

Sometimes it takes the unexpected to really get the true measure of a car, but you can’t say the 2022 Audi e-tron shies from a challenge. First in what the automaker expects to be a whole series of “e-tron” branded electric vehicles, the new SUV isn’t just attempting to demonstrate that established car companies can keep up with new tech, but to change the conversation on what’s important when it comes to EVs. An impromptu weather test was just a bonus during our time with it.

The Audi e-tron 55 is a deceptively compact SUV, at least from the outside. The fact that the standard air suspension can drop the e-tron by up to 2 cm– or raise it by up to 5 cm – only accentuates that. The crisp lines and bold “Singleframe” grille leave it looking handsome and elegant, but don’t stray so far from the rest of Audi’s range as to be off-putting for those considering their first EV.

Inside, though, the benefits of electric drivetrain packaging – which puts a motor on each axle, with no mechanical link between the two – means the cabin is more spacious than the footprint would suggest. Not only is there room for five, but those in the back won’t feel too cramped; cut-outs in the footwell mean their knees won’t be up by their ears, either. There’s ample space for their luggage too.

The e-tron’s cabin is a decidedly pleasant cabin to be in, too. Audi has eschewed its usual entry-level trims, in favor of only offering advanced and S line trims. That means you get power leather seats with heating as standard, along with a Bang & Olufsen 3D audio system, navigation on the twin-touchscreen infotainment system, a power tailgate, Virtual Cockpit instrumentation, 360-degree camera, four-zone climate control, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto with wireless phone charging, and a panoramic sunroof.

That’s on both the R1 990 000 e-tron quattro advanced and the R2 045 000 S line. Additional features include adaptive cruise control, together with a head-up display, fancier leather and seat massage, and power door closers.

Audi Connect is included, too, which means things like live parking information integrated into the dashboard, along with support for the automaker’s smartphone app. From there, you can remotely monitor and schedule charging, set the in-car ventilation, and begin and end vehicle charging.

It’s also possible to set up a navigation route on your phone and then wirelessly transfer that to the car’s system, complete with suggested stop-off points for charging. You can set what level of charge you want to end the trip with and opt to only see the fastest charging stations. Mzansi chargers don’t show on the vehicles yet, something we hope to see in the future soon. New e-tron buyers get complimentary first year membership to Gridcars charging network and charging portal.

EV range is a huge source of anxiety for some drivers, not to mention a key factor by which each new model tends to be judged. After all, how far you can drive between charges can be the difference between an electric car being practical or out of the question. Audi, though, wants to reframe that discussion.

Tune in to my podcast session with Audi South Africa on how exactly they plan to do this after the jump.

First things first: no, the 2022 e-tron doesn’t have class-leading range. Its 95 kWh battery is rated for anything between 369 km and 440 km, in no small part because Audi reserves about 12-percent of the total capacity for future longevity. On paper, that puts it on par with luxury EVs like the Jaguar I-PACE and BMW IX xDrive 40.

Audi’s argument is that, while range may be important, rate of charging is equally so. As soon as you have to factor in at least one stopover point in your trip, because your electric car doesn’t have the juice to make it uninterrupted, the speed at which you can replenish the battery becomes just as vital. Take that into consideration, and those rankings start to look quite different.

Batteries don’t necessarily charge at a steady rate. In fact, there are lots of factors which affect recharging speed: what level you’re starting out from, the temperature of the battery, and the power of the charger itself, among other things. Shifting an EV from 20-percent to 40-percent charge could take a fraction of the time that going from 60-percent to 80-percent would. Logic, right?

This all means that, with the most powerful charging input that the e-tron supports you’ll be able to continue taking in pretty much maximum power until around 80-percent total charge. Rival electric vehicles, in contrast, can start to taper off from their peak charger input from 40- to 50-percent total charge. Which prolongs your charging time.

Audi’s boast is that, with a 10-minute charge on a fast charger – such as those being installed across Mzansi by Gridcars – you can add about 30 km of range. You’ll need to find such a charger first, mind. Though you should probably consult the live map to see if one is actually near you.

Of course, the irony is that charging while on the road actually accounts for only a small portion of the time an EV spends plugged in. The vast bulk of charging takes place at home or at a place of work. On a Level 2 charger, which Audi includes with the purchase of the car, the e-tron will take about nine hours until it’s full.

When Audi allocated time for us out to take the e-tron, we took it on a road trip from Sandton to Parys, it probably expected sunshine. What it actually got was two very different days of weather. The Audi was facing sleet, rainstorms and sunshine highs of 31 degrees.

Combined with a challenging route, the trip actually proved to be an ideal test to see just how the e-tron would handle unpredictable real-world conditions. This wasn’t a time for hypermiling to get the maximum range from the battery, or indeed an opportunity to coddle the electric SUV.

The total drive worked out to 280 km, and so I had baked in a stop at a recently opened Gridcars charging station.

The e-tron does not feel like an electric rocket ship. 0-100 km/h arrives in 5.7 seconds, assuming you’ve put it in Sport mode. Top speed is an electronically limited 200 km/h.

But how does it drive? It drives like an Audi SUV. Stable and poised, eminently familiar if you’ve been behind the wheel of a recent Q3 or Q5. It’ll tow 1800 kg too, a little shy of the Q5’s maximum rating. The electric Quattro system had no trouble with the wet conditions. Not as eager or firm as an I-PACE, but the fit and finish puts both Jaguar and BMW to shame.

Audi is explicitly not chasing the first wave of electric car buyers. Instead, its target is those who might walk into a dealership looking for an internal combustion SUV, but then be tempted by something electric instead. That has led to a couple of decisions that might seem strange to those familiar with EVs.

Audi offers three levels of regenerative braking, thought by default the e-tron handles that all itself. If you want to get involved, you can use the steering wheel paddles to toggle through everything from coasting, where the motors are disconnected and the SUV just glides, through to higher levels that feel more like engine braking in a manual transmission ICE car.

Still, Audi knows its audience well, probably better than I do. The 2022 e-tron comes with an 8 year, 160,000 km warranty on the battery.

More options in the electric vehicle space can only be a good thing. Similarly, more options from established automakers transitioning from ICE cars will only improve the segment. Does the e-tron have the longest range, the best performance, or the most high-tech features? No, but it does offer realistic range, a comfortable driving experience, and the reassurance of Audi’s four rings on the front.

That’s going to be essential for selling EVs to more than just early-adopters, and moving electrification further into the mainstream. In the process, there needs to be more discussion around the full extent of factors which shape electric car ownership. Not just range, but how we charge and where we charge.

If you’re a Tesla fan, that might sound like old news, much in the same way that the Audi’s range might seem underwhelming. It’s easy to sit at the bleeding edge and forget that the majority of people aren’t quite where you are – or willing to take the risk on a relatively new automaker, with all the potential servicing and other headaches that can come with that. For many, it’ll take a familiar brand to get them past that final hurdle where considering battery-electric is realistic.

That doesn’t make the 2022 e-tron perfect, but it does mean it fits just right into the automaker’s line-up. Audi has made the Audi of EVs, and for its owners that’s everything they’ve been waiting for.

All images by Mothusi Molete

The e-tron range makes Audi arguably the most serious player in the electric space to-date, certainly in the SA, taking on not only BMW but Jaguar and others in the process.

The models to be introduced are the Audi e-tron 50 and e-tron 55, e-tron Sportback 55 and e-tron Sportback, e-tron GT and Audi RS e-tron GT.

Product specification and pricing associated with the e-tron range will be announced closer to retail launch.

For the record, Audi plans to release 30 electrified models in the next five years – twenty of which are fully-electric – and it’s doing it by using four dedicated electric platforms