- Market debut of new platform set to also underpin Q6 Sportback, A6 sedan
- Audi SQ6 E-Tron does 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds, from 509-hp dual-motor system
- Gets an EPA-rated 275 miles in SQ6 E-Tron, up to 321 miles for base Q6 E-Tron
Audi has always leaned into performance. Its vehicles have always been at their best with the magic that a little bit of extra tuning from Ingolstadt can bring out.
And so I found it immensely reassuring when, after a drive in a Q6 E-Tron quattro that offered up some impressive range and charging numbers of its own, I simply connected much better from the driver’s seat with the performance-tuned SQ6.
The SQ6 shares most of its propulsion fundamentals underneath with the Q6, all as part of Audi’s new Premium Platform Electric (PPE), a dedicated basis for EVs shared with Porsche, that doesn’t allow space for combustion engines or make compromises for them.
In SQ6 E-Tron form, this just-right-sized sporty SUV offers a combined 509 hp from front inductive and rear permanent-magnet electric motors. There’s no recipe for dynamic hijinks as with the Audi SQ8 E-Tron, but the SQ6 E-Tron’s setup allows a 4.1-second dash from 0-60 mph with launch control, and a 143-mph top speed.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
SQ6 E-Tron numbers: Impressive performance, range
It’s fun to drive, and in a few hours putting this electric SQ8 through the paces in coastal and mountainous Sonoma County, California, this past week, the vehicle’s trip computer also indicated, at about 3.0 miles per kwh, that it could beat its 275-mile EPA range in real-world driving.
Taking a step back and looking at the Q6 E-Tron family, Audi sees the Q6 as being more or less an electric equivalent to the bestselling Q5. But it’s much more spacious, by the feel of it, or by the numbers. At 187.8 inches long overall and on a 113.7-inch wheelbase, it’s only a few inches longer than the Q5 gasoline SUV, and within an inch or two in overall height and width. But it feels nearly a size larger—and nearly as large inside as the Q8 E-Tron EV family that’s a foot longer.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
The 2.3-cubic-foot frunk has enough space for a mobile charge cord plus a small bag, and in back you get 30.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seatback up, or 60.2 cubic feet with them flipped forward—a significant amount more than the Q5’s 25.9 and 54.1 cubic feet.
Front-seat space is vast and the extendable thigh bolsters and robust back support in the test SQ6 felt perfect for a day of taking on backroads. I also appreciated the center console, which kept the layout rather simple and traditional rather than resorting to multi-tier bins. If there’s a flaw here it’s that the rear door cuts are a little too short. That may mean a little more effort for taller passengers getting in, but at 6-foot-6, I noted that I could sit behind myself.
2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron
Charges quicker than Tesla, other German lux EVs
One of the keys to that, and to the great packaging, is the low, flat packaging of the battery pack. Its simplified design sits thin and low, and fits its 100-kwh (94.4 kwh usable) bulk all on one level. With the help of new predictive thermal strategies for this battery and platform it can more often approach its DC fast-charging peak rate of 270 kw for the SQ6—and a 21-minute time from 10-80% if you find a 350-kw CCS connector along your route. Or if you’re limited to the Tesla Supercharger network and its lower-voltage hardware (adapters are on the way next year), the SQ6 can split its pack into two 400-volt packs, getting the whole thing from 10-80% in around 35 minutes.
The SQ6 E-Tron defaults to an Auto regen mode that looks to inputs from the forward-facing camera, as well as navigation and traffic data, and it makes some questionable decisions about when to ramp up regen and when not to. But you can choose three different levels of regenerative braking from ‘D’—ramping up to 0.15 g, or the equivalent of downshifting a gear in a gasoline vehicle. Or to add more, select ‘B’ from the shifter for 0.25 g of regen, or something pretty close to one-pedal driving.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
It’s all part of a nice-driving package that’s not too harsh but is surprisingly communicative. My test SQ6 did have the 21-inch Black optic wheel package, bringing staggered-width 21-inch summer performance rubber. They felt right at home in Napa’s circa-60-degree temps. Steering weighting was good, and there’s even a little bit of feedback in the system’s heavier settings. Audi notes that it’s changed its front suspension geometry and now bolts the steering rack firmly to the subframe. It’s night-and-day different than the steering in the Q8 E-Tron, for instance.
The SQ6 stayed glued to the road in such an utterly neutral way, and soaked up the imperfections better than the Q6 I’d driven earlier the same day—even though the SQ8 weighed a bit more, topping 5,300 pounds. It uses a combination of frequency adaptive passive damping and an adaptive air suspension that adjusts the height and helps with damping at all four wheels. The air suspension can raise 1.1 inches or lower 0.8 inches from its normal mode—or go up 1.8 inches in a lift mode.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
The SQ6 should weigh less than its 5,300-plus pounds. And the only thing that could make up for it is the superb rear-wheel-steering system that another PPE vehicle, the Porsche Macan Electric, does get, to spectacular handling effect. Although somehow with tuning—and perhaps the psychological effect of minor elements like the smaller flat top/bottom steering wheel—the SQ6 E-Tron can feel more nimble than the Q6, that system would back it up with more serious handling chops.
Options on the test SQ6 E-Tron quattro included a Black optic package to go along with the wheels, fine nappa leather seating surfaces ($1,000), Daytona Grey pearl effect paint ($595), and the top-level Prestige package itself, which brings acoustic front door glass to this very quiet interior plus the panoramic sunroof, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, augmented reality head-up display, and Bang & Olufsen sound system, all brought by the mid-level Premium Plus.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
It’s so far so good for the completely new infotainment system that marks a debut in the Q6, offering a 14.5-inch touchscreen and 11.9-inch digital gauge cluster. A 10.9-inch passenger touchscreen is mostly out of sight of the driver and feels like less of a gimmick than in some other cars—allowing the passenger to act as navigator or DJ, or to simply zone out. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, and Audi boasted that its voice recognition system is expanded and improved.
SQ6 E-Tron gets expressive with lighting
The Prestige also gets you seven digital daytime running light signatures and digital OLED taillights that, together, will want you to glance at the artwork for The Police’s “Ghost in the Machine”—even though I didn’t get to drive it at night.
2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron
That brought the total as tested for the SQ6 E-Tron to $83,840—about $7,000 more than the Q6 E-Tron I’d driven earlier. While the Q6 version felt like a luxury vehicle, in SQ6 form, this vehicle really came into its own as more of a driver’s car.
The SQ6 E-Tron sure isn’t alone. In recent years, rival models like the BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQE have arrived. Both of these models land in a similar price range, as equipped, but neither of them allows 21-minute charging.
As a family yet to be nipped and tucked, Audi’s new midsize EVs take many of the original E-Tron strengths and blast past nearly all the former foibles. It’s exactly what it should be as the beating heart of Audi’s lineup.
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