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A new report claims that Audi isn’t only working on a new RS6 E-Tron Avant, but that it will be launching within two years!
by Robert Moore, onIt was just back in April of 2021 that Audi launched the A6 E-Tron concept – a car that was originally thought to replace the fuel-drinking A6. As it turned out, the A6 E-Tron won’t replace the regular A6, but it will be the A6’s EV counterpart. About a month after it was released, I sat down to make a case for how the A6 E-Tron could become the electric wagon – or Avant in Audi talk – that 2025 needs. If the latest reports are true, I could have been right, except that Audi might be moving quicker than I anticipated.
Now, at first thought, I keep thinking about how back in August, it was said that the 2022 Geneva Motor Show would host a big surprise from Audi. But that show has since been cancelled, and the latest report from Autocar says that the new RS6 E-Tron won’t arrive until 2023. The wait, however, might be worth it. Like the Porsche Macan EV and the Audi Q6, the RS6 E-Tron will ride on the Porsche\Audi PPE platform, which is really good news as it opens the door for more goodies that you could have if it was built on VW’s MEB platform. I’m talking about things like air suspension, rear-wheel steering, and torque vectoring – all things that won’t make their way to models below the Q6, like the Q4 E-Tron.
As far as power and performance goes, Audi has things handled. The A6 E-Tron Concept had a dual-motor layout that was good for a total system output of 470 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. The RS6 Avant E-Tron, however, is said to take those numbers as high as 600 horsepower (and probably closer to 700 pound-feet of torque.) It will have the same 100-kWh battery found in the A6 E-Tron, but the RS6 will be geared toward performance, not economy, so the A6’s expected range of 435 miles shouldn’t be expected with the RS6. The RS6 will likely end up with 330 miles of range at best.
Looking beyond this, the RS6 should be capable of hitting 62 mph in 3.1 seconds while top speed will likely be capped around 160 mph. With the gas-powered RS6 Avant coming in at $116,500, don’t expect the RS6 Avant E-Tron to come for less than $140,000.
Source: Autocar
