Audi confirms that the RS and Sportback versions of the Q6 e-tron are on their way

The four-ring brand has just revealed new details about its electric vehicle range, specifically affecting the Q6 e-tron. With only a few weeks to go before the first units of the brand’s new electric SUV hit streets and roads across Europe, the company’s management has announced the expansion of the range with two new versions: the Q6 e-tron Sportback and a higher-performance version called the RS Q6 e-tron.

The announcement of the Q6 e-tron Sportback is not entirely unexpected, as spy photos of a camouflaged model had previously emerged. Furthermore, at the Q6 e-tron launch event, Audi already hinted at the silhouette of this new Sportback variant under the brand’s motto “Vorsprung“.

Recent signs pointing to a slowdown in the electric vehicle market have not made Audi hesitate, which maintains its plans to introduce its last combustion-engine model in 2026, before completely eliminating its entire range of vehicles with this type of powertrain by 2033. The company’s management is confident it can offer an electric model in every single main segment by 2027.

The Sportback variant will offer some advantages at the cost of penalizing the available interior space

Although most of the details are still under wraps, it seems logical to assume that the new Q6 e-tron Sportback will follow the design line of Audi’s Sportback models we already know, with a sloping roofline that adds an attractive visual touch to its design, as well as improving the aerodynamic coefficient and the efficiency of the vehicle. We have already seen this in the Sportback variants of the Q4 and Q8.

On the other hand, the future RS Q6 e-tron, which will probably be presented next year, is expected to bring a considerable performance improvement over the standard version. We should remember that the Q6 e-tron uses the new PPE platform developed together with Porsche, which also underpins the new electric Macan. It therefore seems quite likely that the RS Q6 e-tron will match, or at least come fairly close to, the 470 kW output of the Porsche Macan Turbo.

The PPE platform seems to play a crucial role in the future of Audi. The brand is reconfiguring its model line-up, with even-numbered vehicles such as the A4, A6 and Q8 becoming fully electric, while odd-numbered models will remain combustion-engined. Audi already confirmed some time ago that a new A6, based on the same PPE platform, will be the brand’s next fully electric model.