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A glimpse of the future

With its futuristic technology, elegant design and the practicality of a runabout, the Audi A6 e-tron concept¹ is a study representing the all-electric executive class.

Text: AUDI AG – Photo: AUDI AG Reading Time: 5 min

A side view of the Audi A6 e-tron concept.
With its perfect proportions, the Audi A6 e-tron concept¹ truly embodies the Four Rings’ E design idiom. The vehicle shown here is a concept car that is not available as a production model.

The all-electric, four-door, premium Sportback offers a sneak preview of tomorrow’s mid-range and executive-class Audi production models with e-drive.

Breathtaking design

The Audi A6 e-tron concept1 smoothly picks up the baton in terms of fresh design idiom with perfect proportions first embodied by the Audi RS e-tron GT. Its long wheelbase, short overhangs, flattened cabin resting on large wheels, dynamic coupé roofline and soft, evocative contours accentuating the quattro muscles convey the overall impression of a powerful package. Highlighted in color as the heart of the car, the battery keeps the vehicle looking slim and agile when viewed from the side.

 

As the body’s contours lack hard edges, the shadows cast by convex and concave surfaces fade out softly. Viewed head-on, the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 presents a striking face in the shape of the large, enclosed, optically inverted Singleframe designed for maximum streamlining. An aerodynamic spoiler lip wraps around the tail, which also features a high-tech rear diffuser below.

 

So the Audi A6 e-tron concept1, too, offers living proof that aerodynamics is not just a time-honored area of expertise at the Four Rings but also a core design characteristic. This is a highly attractive electric vehicle that skillfully fuses form and function. After all, the fact that the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 boasts a drag coefficient of 0.22 is instrumental to its long electric range.

Audi RS e-tron GT: Power consumption (combined) in kWh/100 km: 21.1–18.4CO₂ emissions (combined) in g/km: 0CO₂ emission class: A

Audi RS e-tron GT: Power consumption (combined) in kWh/100 km: 21.1–18.4CO₂ emissions (combined) in g/km: 0CO₂ emission class: A

Progressive lighting technology

Progressive styling is a thread that runs throughout the car—from the exceptionally slim front headlamp design to the rear end’s clean cut shaped by a light strip integrated into the rear window. Thanks to a new generation of digital OLED elements that serve as a display, drivers can choose from a wide range of customizable digital light signatures and dynamic light animations.

 

As recurrent motifs, digitalization and progressive lighting technology are also prominent at the front of the Audi A6 e-tron concept1. Audi designers have developed a video game that the digital Matrix LED headlights can project onto an area of wall in front of the vehicle, spanning several meters. So when the car is charging, occupants can stand directly next to or in front of it and get in on the big gaming action instead of playing on a screen in the cockpit.

LED projectors on the vehicle create glowing triangles on the ground.
LED projectors create hazard signs on the ground as a warning that the door is opening, for instance. The vehicle shown here is a concept car that is not available as a production model.

And the special touches in the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 don’t end there: Three small, high-resolution LED projectors are integrated into each side of the body. When occupants open the doors, dynamic light animations greet them with words in their home language. More importantly, the projectors also create hazard signs on the ground to warn approaching cyclists, for instance, that the door is opening. Additional LED projectors located at the vehicle’s four corners can produce modifiable indicator projections and thus also provide warnings.

 

These LED projectors expand the scope of the car’s communicative capabilities beyond the vehicle itself. Thanks to intelligent networking in the vehicle, the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 uses visual signals to share information with other road users.

Forward-looking electric platform

The Audi A6 e-tron concept1 is built on a completely new technology architecture—the Premium Platform Electric or PPE for short. As a dedicated battery-electric propulsion platform, the PPE is engineered specifically to fully leverage all of that drive system’s advantages. Positioned between the axles, the battery module—which in the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 produces 100 kilowatts of power—is its nerve center. Making use of the entire vehicle base provides a relatively flat layout for the battery.

 

Naturally, the Premium Platform Electric bears the distinctive Audi stamp in the shape of premium powertrain, chassis, electronics technologies as well as, of course, premium quality standards. So it should come as no surprise that, in the case of the Audi A6 e-tron concept1, that also means quattro drive. Electric motors on both the front and rear axles generate a total output of 350 kilowatts and torque of 800 newton-meters.

With a reach of over 700 kilometers, the Audi A6 e-tron concept¹ is ready for whatever day-to-day living brings.

Compelling everyday practicality

Standing 1.44 meters tall, the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 is 4.96 meters long and 1.96 meters wide. In other words, its proportions are very similar to those of the current Audi A6 or A7. Yet, like all electric vehicles, the interior of the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 feels very spacious. Eliminating the transmission tunnel and extending the wheelbase makes for lots of room in the interior.

 

The heart of the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 car’s drive technology is its 800-volt charging technology. Thanks to this technology, drivers who use rapid charging stations can be back on the road in the time it takes for a traditional refueling stop and short coffee break. A mere ten minutes is enough to recharge sufficiently to travel more than 300 kilometers. In under 25 minutes, the 100-kilowatt battery level of the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 can be raised from 5 to 80 percent. Depending on the drive variant and output, the coupé can have a WLTP range of more than 700 kilometers.

 

That’s comparable to conventional combustion engines—and perfectly suited to everyday use. So the Audi A6 e-tron concept1 checks all the boxes as a first car for the uncompromising, as a family’s sole vehicle or as the ideal, everyday runabout—whether for use day in, day out, on weekends or long journeys.

A side view of the vehicle’s tail, highlighting the quattro muscle on the wheel arches, which segues into a digital OLED light display.
Design idiom meets digitalization: The quattro muscle on the wheel arches segues into a digital OLED light display. The vehicle shown here is a concept car that is not available as a production model.
Audi AI:ME side view

Discover tomorrow’s mobility

Studies such as the Audi A6 e-tron concept¹ show what tomorrow’s mobility could look like. Here, you can catch another glimpse of how we’ll get from A to B in the future with the Audi AI:ME concept car¹.

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The vehicle shown here is a concept car that is not available as a production model.

The vehicle shown here is a concept car that is not available as a production model.