Audi Q6 e-tron review

Big ‘n’ wafty. What, you want more? Oh alright then. We haven’t tried the rear drive variants yet, but the first thing you notice about the Q6 e-tron quattro is the big lump of power available to your right foot: 382bhp isn’t to be sniffed at, let alone 490bhp in the SQ6. Plant the throttle and the initial surge is huge, although the rest of the run up to cruising speed is less dramatic. Basically, you will have no problem whatsoever outside-laning this.

It’s very capable through a corner too. The steering is quick, which means you can do 90 per cent of your driving by crossing your hands; proper racing driver stuff. There’s next to no steering feel but it encourages you to go at turns with gusto, and the damping keeps the immense body in check no matter how ambitiously you tip into a corner.

Obviously, this is a very heavy car. Upwards of 2.3 tonnes - of which 590kg is the battery - and you really feel that when it’s time to slow down. The brake pedal calibration is superb but do enough big stops and you’ll eventually get worn out by it all. It comes down to personal taste of course, but we preferred turning the regen up to its maximum level just to reduce the workload: once you’re dialled in, it’s a far more relaxing way to go about driving.

How’s the ride?

On our first encounter, immaculate, although the Q6 had everything going in its favour on our first test run out in Spain. The SQ6 comes with adaptive air suspension as standard and all the other versions we drove had it fitted as an option. On smooth asphalt it’s exquisite. And it’s uncanny how quickly speed humps are resolved.

Back home and in its most basic form, it didn’t fare quite as well, struggling to disguise its weight and unable to iron out the many imperfections in our pockmarked UK road network as well as we'd like. Which is a shame because otherwise it’s still mighty impressive, leaning into the huge refinement that Audi has been able to drag out of the PPE platform: wind, suspension and tyre noise are all beautifully contained.

What’s the SQ6 like?

Honestly? It’s not much different, just a bit faster. That extra power gives it a show-off-to-yer-mates quality that you’ll deploy in your first week of ownership, and then never again thereafter. In terms of behaviour and character, there’s very little that makes it stand out. Worth dropping almost a full Renault Clio extra on? Nah. Which is probably why Audi only expects it to chip in three per cent of Q6 e-tron sales.

You had doubts about the range, right?

Aye. You’re looking at 326 and 393 miles in the RWD cars, 382 miles in the AWD, or 360 miles in the SQ6.

However, based on our experience so far we reckon 300 miles is more realistic in the Q6 e-tron quattro, on account of seeing efficiency of roughly 2.6mi/kWh on our first drive (where we were neither chasing range nor driving on roads that lent themselves to efficiency), and 3.0mi/kWh back here in the UK, where progress was a little more… steady. Still well down on the 4.0 that the official numbers suggest is possible.