The BMW i5 Touring is competing in a rarified segment considering there are only a handful of electric wagons. Audi wants a piece of the action with the new A6 Avant E-Tron, which spawns a high-performance S6 from day one. The latter goes up against the i5 M60 Touring, an M Performance version of Bavaria s luxury electric wagon.
In S6 guise, the performance estate from Ingolstadt delivers 496 horsepower to the Quattro all-wheel-drive system. Using launch control unlocks the full 543 hp, enabling a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) run in 3.9 seconds. Audi quotes a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h). That pair of electric motors draws its juice from a 94.9-kWh battery that Audi installs in the standard A6 Avant E-Tron as well.
The company with the Four Rings logo claims a fully charged battery lasts for over 398 miles (640 kilometers) of range. Should you be in a hurry to replenish the battery, the electric A6/S6 Avant E-Tron supports 270-kW DC charging as standard. It ll take 21 minutes to go from 10% to 80%. If you can t wait this long, 10 minutes puts enough energy back into the battery for 193 miles (310 kilometers). That s provided you have access to a station that supports the full charging power.
The Avant joins an equally stylish Sportback, a five-door liftback that goes up against the BMW i5 sedan. These new Audi EVs come with a controversial split headlight design and a triple-screen setup inside. While the Sportback has a drag coefficient of just 0.21 “ a record for an Audi production car “ the Avant is rated at 0.24. These figures were achieved after installing side cameras and aero-tweaked wheels.
Of the two body styles, only the Sportback is coming to the United States. However, those side mirrors we mentioned won t be legal here, nor will the adaptive matrix LED headlights installed on the European model. Audi will begin to accept orders in Germany in September, with the US to follow at a later date.
In its home market Deutschland, the S6 Avant E-Tron costs ‚¬101,150 whereas the regular A6 electric wagon begins at ‚¬77,250.
Source: Audi
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
