Ah, how so much can change in only a few short weeks.
It wasn’t long before I drove the 2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron that I proclaimed the Porsche Macan Electric to be the best premium electric vehicle (EV) on the market. Smooth, sophisticated, and refined, the emissions-free Macan has what it takes to challenge misconceptions about electrification — especially the newly launched rear-wheel-drive version that’s capable of a surprising sort of electrified fun.
Far be it for me to stoke the flames of internal strife at the Volkswagen Group, but the closely related Q6 E-Tron puts my bold declaration up for debate.
Premium Platform
The Macan Electric and Q6 E-Tron are the second EVs in their respective lineups to ride on shared underpinnings — the Taycan and E-Tron GT came before them — but together they’re the first to be built on a new platform that’s been significantly improved compared to the one before. And while it’s easy for an automaker to make a claim like that when introducing a new product, the proof is in the packaging.
This isn’t about enhanced rigidity, either; that’s the stuff that typically gets tweaked and changed when a new model is introduced. Instead, the so-called Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture has made way for every major component to be built better than before. That includes electric motors that are more compact, not to mention lighter, along with a new battery and the related 800-volt system that makes it all work.
According to Audi, the new motors it builds in Hungary take up about two thirds the space of the ones in the likes of the slightly smaller Q4 E-Tron and weigh about 20 per cent less. The rear motor, for example, tips the scales at a fairly modest 118 kg (261 lb). Yes, that’s still like having an NFL linebacker riding in the back at all times, but its position so low in the vehicle makes it more of a leverageable asset.
More important, particularly in a performance-oriented model like the SQ6 E-Tron, is the power the new motors make. That figure would be a combined 483 hp — compared to 422 hp in the dual-motor Q6 E-Tron — while a temporary 26-hp bump is accessible with launch control activated. (The rear-wheel-drive version sold in the United States and elsewhere isn’t available in Canada, at least not initially.)
Torque, meanwhile, stands at 203 lb-ft up front and 428 lb-ft in the back. Incidentally, those numbers are identical between both versions of this crossover, but in the case of the 2,350-kg (5,181-lb) SQ6 E-Tron it means hustling from a standing start to 100 km/h in a claimed 4.1 seconds.
Premium Poise
That happens to be the exact same sprint time as the Macan 4S Electric that makes the same 509 hp with launch control. It’s perhaps the most interesting part of this joint project; because while the underpinnings and components are pretty much the same — Audi even makes the motors for Porsche — the tuning of the electronics is up to the engineers at each brand.
Of course, there are characteristics that all EVs share, like instantaneous torque delivery, but the SQ6 E-Tron feels like its own machine. There’s more elegance here than outright athleticism, with this Audi feeling especially luxurious on the highway. Even at speeds in excess of 230 km/h on an unrestricted stretch of Germany’s famed autobahn, it remained as planted and predictable as it did travelling half as fast.
The height-adjustable air suspension deserves credit for the almost frictionless feel it helps to provide. Better still, the sense of excitement on a winding road isn’t lost to the luxuriousness. Sure, it can’t carve a corner with the same finesse as a sports car — but neither can a gas-powered crossover this size.
What the SQ6 E-Tron has in its favour is an exceptionally low centre of gravity created by the low-mounted motors and 100-kWh battery pack that spans the floor. With the adaptive air suspension hunkered down with the drive mode selector set to dynamic, there’s a fun factor here that shines through in spite of the mass being moved.
Slicing across the Austrian countryside, a nearly 30-km alpine road provided an epic playground to exercise this EV. And while there was no hiding from the mass being moved here, the SQ6 E-Tron remained a nimble and neutral companion through the tightest switchbacks. The regenerative braking helped here, too, with the electric motors slowing momentum when heading into a hairpin corner while feeding energy into the battery for later use.
Premium Price
That battery, which uses an optimized cell chemistry, can be charged at speeds as fast as 270 kW and is good for an estimated range of 443 km for the SQ6 E-Tron and as much as 494 km for the less powerful Q6 E-Tron, depending on wheel size. Beyond those EV essentials, every version comes with stuff like heated front seats, tri-zone climate control, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto that runs through a 14.5-inch touchscreen, and a customizable 11.9-inch digital instrument display.
There’s also connected navigation that can automatically start preconditioning the battery when a DC fast-charger is set as a destination, or even keep the battery cool when approaching a steep grade. Audi has also included an entire advanced safety suite — forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and adaptive cruise control, among others — across the lineup.
That’s standard in the cheapest version of the Q6 E-Tron that starts at $83,895, while the Progressiv trim that’s next in the lineup is priced at $89,995 and comes with extras like a heated steering wheel and rear seats, six extra speakers for a total of 16, a power panoramic sunroof, surround-view cameras, and an augmented reality head-up display that projects turn-by-turn directions on the windshield. Then there’s the Technik trim that adds air suspension and a 10.9-inch passenger display for its $92,945 sticker price before freight and tax.
The SQ6 E-Tron, meanwhile, comes in the choice of Progressiv and Technik trims that are priced at $100,054 and $103,954, respectively. The features are nearly identical to what’s included in the same Q6 E-Tron trims, although the top trim also gets a 20-speaker stereo.
Final Thoughts
A good luxury vehicle should feel effortless — like an afterthought from inside. More than any list of features, or even how much it costs, it’s the kind of intangible quality that justifies its positioning as a premium product.
Ultimately, that’s what makes the 2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron so special. It’s more Burberry than Balenciaga, with quiet confidence rather than exaggerated opulence. That sort of dignified restraint has long been an Audi hallmark, and it’s one that’s perfectly suited for the brand’s electrification journey. While I’m not here to claim that’s enough to make the Q6 E-Tron the best of the bunch — fool me once and all that — but there’s no doubt it’s a damn good EV that’s up there with its platform-mate from Porsche.
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