2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron tunes into the motive force

• Market debut of recent platform set to also underpin Q6 Sportback, A6 sedan
• Audi SQ6 E-Tron does 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds, from 509-hp dual-motor system
• Gets an EPA-rated 275 miles in SQ6 E-Tron, as much as 321 miles for base Q6 E-Tron

Audi has at all times leaned into performance. Its vehicles have at all times been at their best with the magic that a little bit bit of additional tuning from Ingolstadt can bring out. 

And so I discovered it immensely reassuring when, after a drive in a Q6 E-Tron quattro that offered up some impressive range and charging numbers of its own, I simply connected significantly better from the motive force’s seat with the performance-tuned SQ6. 

The SQ6 shares most of its propulsion fundamentals underneath with the Q6, all as a part of Audi’s recent Premium Platform Electric (PPE), a dedicated basis for EVs shared with Porsche, that doesn’t allow space for combustion engines or make compromises for them. 

In SQ6 E-Tron form, this just-right-sized sporty SUV offers a combined 509 hp from front inductive and rear permanent-magnet electric motors. There’s no recipe for dynamic hijinks as with the Audi SQ8 E-Tron, however the SQ6 E-Tron’s setup allows a 4.1-second dash from 0-60 mph with launch control, and a 143-mph top speed. 

SQ6 E-Tron numbers: Impressive performance, range

It’s fun to drive, and in just a few hours putting this electric SQ8 through the paces in coastal and mountainous Sonoma County, California, this past week, the vehicle’s trip computer also indicated, at about 3.0 miles per kwh, that it could beat its 275-mile EPA range in real-world driving. 

Taking a step back and looking out on the Q6 E-Tron family, Audi sees the Q6 as being roughly an electrical such as the bestselling Q5. But it surely’s far more spacious, by the texture of it, or by the numbers. At 187.8 inches long overall and on a 113.7-inch wheelbase, it’s only just a few inches longer than the Q5 gasoline SUV, and inside an inch or two in overall height and width. But it surely feels nearly a size larger—and nearly as large inside because the Q8 E-Tron EV family that’s a foot longer. 

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

The two.3-cubic-foot frunk has enough space for a mobile charge cord plus a small bag, and in back you get 30.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seatback up, or 60.2 cubic feet with them flipped forward—a big amount greater than the Q5’s 25.9 and 54.1 cubic feet. 

Front-seat space is vast and the extendable thigh bolsters and robust back support within the test SQ6 felt perfect for a day of taking up backroads. I also appreciated the middle console, which kept the layout quite easy and traditional quite than resorting to multi-tier bins. If there’s a flaw here it’s that the rear door cuts are a little bit too short. That will mean a little bit more effort for taller passengers getting in, but at 6-foot-6, I noted that I could sit behind myself. 

2025 Audi Q6 E-Tron

Charges quicker than Tesla, other German lux EVs

One among the keys to that, and to the good packaging, is the low, flat packaging of the battery pack. Its simplified design sits thin and low, and matches its 100-kwh (94.4 kwh usable) bulk all on one level. With the assistance of recent predictive thermal strategies for this battery and platform it may possibly more often approach its DC fast-charging peak rate of 270 kw for the SQ6—and a 21-minute time from 10-80% for those who discover a 350-kw CCS connector along your route. Or for those who’re limited to the Tesla Supercharger network and its lower-voltage hardware (adapters are on the best way next yr), the SQ6 can split its pack into two 400-volt packs, getting the entire thing from 10-80% in around 35 minutes.

The SQ6 E-Tron defaults to an Auto regen mode that appears to inputs from the forward-facing camera, in addition to navigation and traffic data, and it makes some questionable decisions about when to ramp up regen and when to not. But you may select three different levels of regenerative braking from ‘D’—ramping as much as 0.15 g, or the equivalent of downshifting a gear in a gasoline vehicle. Or so as to add more, select ‘B’ from the shifter for 0.25 g of regen, or something pretty near one-pedal driving. 

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

It’s all a part of a nice-driving package that’s not too harsh but is surprisingly communicative. My test SQ6 did have the 21-inch Black optic wheel package, bringing staggered-width 21-inch summer performance rubber. They felt right at home in Napa’s circa-60-degree temps. Steering weighting was good, and there’s even a little bit little bit of feedback within the system’s heavier settings. Audi notes that it’s modified its front suspension geometry and now bolts the steering rack firmly to the subframe. It’s night-and-day different than the steering within the Q8 E-Tron, as an illustration. 

The SQ6 stayed glued to the road in such an utterly neutral way, and soaked up the imperfections higher than the Q6 I’d driven earlier the identical day—although the SQ8 weighed a bit more, topping 5,300 kilos. It uses a mixture of frequency adaptive passive damping and an adaptive air suspension that adjusts the peak and helps with damping in any respect 4 wheels. The air suspension can raise 1.1 inches or lower 0.8 inches from its normal mode—or go up 1.8 inches in a lift mode. 

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

The SQ6 should weigh lower than its 5,300-plus kilos. And the one thing that might make up for it’s the superb rear-wheel-steering system that one other PPE vehicle, the Porsche Macan Electric, does get, to spectacular handling effect. Although by some means with tuning—and maybe the psychological effect of minor elements just like the smaller flat top/bottom steering wheel—the SQ6 E-Tron can feel more nimble than the Q6, that system would back it up with more serious handling chops. 

Options on the test SQ6 E-Tron quattro included a Black optic package to go together with the wheels, tremendous nappa leather seating surfaces ($1,000), Daytona Grey pearl effect paint ($595), and the top-level Prestige package itself, which brings acoustic front door glass to this very quiet interior plus the panoramic sunroof, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, augmented reality head-up display, and Bang & Olufsen sound system, all brought by the mid-level Premium Plus. 

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

It’s to this point so good for the completely recent infotainment system that marks a debut within the Q6, offering a 14.5-inch touchscreen and 11.9-inch digital gauge cluster. A ten.9-inch passenger touchscreen is generally out of sight of the motive force and seems like less of a gimmick than in another cars—allowing the passenger to act as navigator or DJ, or to easily zone out. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, and Audi boasted that its voice recognition system is expanded and improved.

SQ6 E-Tron gets expressive with lighting 

The Prestige also gets you seven digital daytime running light signatures and digital OLED taillights that, together, will want you to glance on the artwork for The Police’s “Ghost within the Machine”—although I didn’t get to drive it at night. 

2025 Audi SQ6 E-Tron

That brought the full as tested for the SQ6 E-Tron to $83,840—about $7,000 greater than the Q6 E-Tron I’d driven earlier. While the Q6 version felt like a luxury vehicle, in SQ6 form, this vehicle really got here into its own as more of a driver’s automotive. 

The SQ6 E-Tron sure isn’t alone. In recent times, rival models just like the BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQE have arrived. Each of those models land in an analogous price range, as equipped, but neither of them allows 21-minute charging. 

As a family yet to be nipped and tucked, Audi’s recent midsize EVs take most of the original E-Tron strengths and blast past nearly all the previous foibles. It’s exactly what it must be because the beating heart of Audi’s lineup.