New Audi Q6 e-tron electric SUV: front end spied without disguise ahead of reveal

Audi's e-tron range is set to expand further in the coming months, with this new Q6 e-tron joining the line-up later in 2022. It'll slot in above the existing Q4 e-tron and below the larger e-tron, with the latter set to be renamed Q8 e-tron when it's facelifted in order to make the hierarchy clearer.

The Q6 e-tron was announced by Audi boss Markus Duessmann at the brand's annual conference in March 2021. Camouflaged prototypes have been spotted on the roads near Audi's Ingolstadt HQ in Germany, as well as in the far north of Sweden.

Most recently, a spy photographer was able to get a snap of the Q6 e-tron's front end with its cover partially removed (above), revealing a front grille design similar to that of the Q4's, but with two-part split headlights to differentiate it from its smaller relation.

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While the Q8 e-tron sits on the same platform as some combustion-engined Audi SUVs and the Q4 e-tron shares underpinnings with the Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq iV, the Q6 e-tron sits on new 'PPE' (Premium Platform Electric) underpinnings, which have been developed in conjunction with Porsche. That means the Q6 e-tron will be a sister model to the already announced electric Porsche Macan.

In total, Audi is planning to have 20 fully electric models on the market by 2025, and it intends for them to make up a third of its total sales by that point. As the PPE platform incorporates 800-volt electrics, like the already available Porsche Taycan, both the Q6 e-tron and electric Macan should offer 350kW rapid charging.

A range of around 300 miles can be expected, as well as a strong power output in the region of 500bhp – possibly boosted further to create an 'RS' high-performance model, in similar fashion to the standard and RS versions of the e-tron GT four-door.