We’re hot off the heels of the international media's first-drive preview of Audi’s tweener midsize EV crossover, the Q6 E-Tron. We aren’t able to share our impressions of that vehicle until July 1st, but Audi’s executives did confirm to us that two expansions of the model lineup are on the way. First will be the Q6 E-Tron Sportback, and later, a hotted-up RS version, likely dubbed the RS Q6 E-Tron.
Technically, the first piece of news isn’t all that surprising. After all, we’ve seen spy shots of a heavily camouflaged Q6 E-tron Sportback before. Yet, at the Q6 E-tron’s launch event, the brand showed off the clearest look of the Q6 E-Tron Sportback via a dark-colored teaser shown to all the media in the room. Audi used the term “Vorsprung,” which the brand translated as “more to come.”
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From what we can see, it’s a pretty snazzy upgrade over the current Q6 E-Tron. Aside from the roofline, most of the details are obscured, but it looks to follow the rest of Audi’s Sportback models, adding a sloping, more impractical roofline to a mild-mannered and upright crossover design. The concept is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think the rakish roofline on the Q4 and Q8 Sportback adds a lot of visual zest to their resigns. It’s the same story here; this car is shaping up to be a looker. I think the Q6 E-Tron Sportback could be the best-looking iteration of this idea.
Audi’s representatives also confirmed a future RS Q6 E-Tron in the works — both it and the Sportback will likely be revealed sometime next year.
Unfortunately, Audi was fairly doggish when we pressed them on what exactly would set the RS Q6 E-Tron apart from the SQ6 E-Tron. Still, they insisted that it would be a sizable upgrade, going beyond Audi's changes to turn the Q6 E-Tron into the SQ6 E-Tron. Remember, the Q6 E-Tron uses the new PPE as the new Porsche Macan EV. We could potentially see an RS Q6 E-Tron match the Porsche Macan EV Turbo’s 630 horsepower output, but also, we know that Porsche would never let Audi surpass it in any way, so we’ll have to see how this all plays out in the future.
It looks like the PPE platform will play a pretty significant part in Audi’s future. The brand is now reconfiguring its model lineup, with even-numbered Audi models like the A4, A6, and Q8 shifting to fully electric platforms. The odd-numbered models will remain combustion-based. Audi’s representatives mentioned that a forthcoming new A6 will be the next fully electric model based on the same PPE platform.
Audi was adamant that the RS Q6 E-Tron and Q6 E-Tron Sportback would likely be US-bound. We should know more about these cars when they are officially unveiled very soon, with the Q6 E-Tron Sportback coming first.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
