Audi S6 Avant e-tron driving report: only the top for now

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It has taken quite some time for estate cars with battery-electric drive systems to become available. What is now slowly trickling onto the market, however, usually has very little to do with the classic image of a family car. This is because the battery-electric versions of the Opel Astra and Peugeot 308 are likely to exceed many family budgets financially, and models such as the BMW 5 Series Touring or Audi A6 Avant already do this as combustion models. Nevertheless, there is a market for electric estate cars, even in the particularly nippy versions. The Audi S6 Avant e-tron can undoubtedly be counted among them. We have already been able to take it for a test drive.

Very nimble

The first Audi S6 had a 2.2-liter five-cylinder engine with 169 kW, which accelerated the large estate from a standstill to 100 km/h in less than seven seconds. That was pretty fast for the time. Its successor is considerably faster again in the standard sprint at 3.9  seconds, and of course, it also dramatically outperforms the S6 from 1991 in terms of elasticity. The problem with such e-sports cars in estate car guise, however, is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in terms of performance. Unlike back then, there are now many electric cars that are likely to be perceived as fast by drivers.

The motors in the S6 have a combined output of 370 kW, in overboost it is even 405 for a short time. This means that the Audi remains slightly below the values of the fastest BMW i5, which has no relevance in practice. Both are extremely fast station wagons, even under the conditions of the current galloping power inflation. Like many manufacturers, Audi also relies on a combination of a synchronous motor at the rear, which serves as the primary drive, and an asynchronous machine at the front. The latter is only used when the driver demands a particularly high load. Otherwise, it can run without loss.

A little sharpness is missing

Power is no longer a distinguishing feature of electric cars. But we would have liked a little more bite and a little more dynamism from this S variant. When accelerating out of a bend, you notice as soon as the asynchronous motor switches on at the front and keeps the estate cleanly on track. This allows the Avant to get around corners quite quickly. But the genuine S feeling of earlier days is not there. The S6 is excellently damped so that the driver initially notices very little of how fast it is moving. The fact that the S6 Avant e-tron has neither active torque vectoring nor a limited-slip differential on the rear axle makes the whole thing seem a little lacking in excitement. If you really push the estate to its limits, you quickly get the impression that Audi wanted to leave a little breathing space for the upcoming RS6.

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Audi S6 Avant e-tron (7 Bilder)

The battery has a net energy content of 94.9 kWh, which is enough for a WLTP range of up to 647 km in the S6 e-tron Avant. With a charge level of 98 percent, the on-board computer showed a range of 418 km – so the driver was presumably driving briskly beforehand. We climbed to an altitude of 2300 m in the estate and achieved a consumption of 23.2 kWh/100 km. Audi states 16.4 to 17.4 kWh in the WLTP. For orientation: The BMW i5 M60 xDrive Touring is specified with 20.8 kWh in the WLTP, the range is significantly lower with a maximum of 506 km, which is also due to the battery, which is smaller with an energy content of 81 kWh.

Charging with 800 volts

The Audi also has a technical advantage over the BMW in terms of faster charging. BMW uses a voltage level of 400 volts, and the charging time from 10 to 80 percent is specified as 30 minutes. At its peak, the i5 charges with a maximum of 205 kW. The S6 clearly surpasses this, which is also due to the higher voltage. It charges with a maximum of 270 kW. Under ideal conditions, the window between 10 and 80 percent, in this case just under 66.5 kWh, is filled after just 21 minutes – which corresponds to an average charging capacity of just under 190 kW in this range. The S6 e-tron can tow trailers weighing up to 2.1 tons. However, the range is then halved. If only a roof box is fitted, aerodynamicist Matteo Ghelfi from Audi has a specific value ready: "In the long-distance cycle at 112 km/h average speed, the increased air resistance caused by the roof box reduces the range of the Avant by around 121 km."

Price

As expected, the S6 Avant is aimed at a very solvent target group. The base price for the car, which is already lavishly equipped ex works, is 101,150 euros. If you like, you can raise the price to more than 120,000 euros. Audi is presumably hoping to continue the tradition of a series of very powerful estate cars from the early 1990s. Back then, only very few people could afford them, but many wanted them. The S6 Avant e-tron easily fits into this pattern.

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