Audi is resolutely pushing ahead with its “e-volution” towards electric mobility and will be unveiling the forerunner of an innovative family of fully electric, production cars – the four-door Audi A6 e-tron concept – at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show. A completely new technology architecture, the “Premium Platform Electric,” or PPE for short, will serve as the technology platform for these vehicles in the future.
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Sporting the Audi A6 emblem, the concept car underscores its place in the brand’s luxury-class model series. The only thing it has in common with the current A6 are its dimensions. The 4.96-meter-long, 1.96-meter-wide, and 1.44-meter-high body is designed as a Sportback, and its lines are an obvious reflection of the systematic advancement of Audi’s current design language.
Audi A6 e-tron concept’s design
Aerodynamics has always played a key role in Audi’s long history of success in the luxury class. Now the Audi A6 e-tron concept is writing a new chapter in this success story with cW value of just 0.22 is unprecedented in the electrified C-segment. In layman’s terms, this means the car exhibits minimal aerodynamic drag – which initially translates into lower energy consumption and therefore extended range. At the same time, the fine-tuning in the wind tunnel has once again resulted in an organic design with exceptional elegance and harmony down to the last detail.
Large 22-inch wheels and short overhangs, the flat cabin, and the wide coupe roof arch give the vehicle proportions distinctly reminiscent of a sports car. The Audi A6 e-tron concept appears monolithic, as if from a single mold – particularly when viewed from the side.
The slope of the rear side window is a typical feature of Audi Sportback window design; as a result, the D-pillar rises up from the stable base of the vehicle’s rear end in an especially streamlined manner. The eye-catching quattro wheel arches effectively accentuate the width of the body and are simultaneously integrated organically into the side surfaces. Also typical of Audi e-tron models are the sleek, camera-based virtual exterior mirrors at the base of the A-pillar.
Looking at the front, it is immediately apparent that the Audi A6 e-tron concept is an electric- powered representative of the brand with the four rings. A characteristic feature is the large enclosed Singleframe grille, which is bordered at the bottom by deep air intakes for cooling the drivetrain, battery, and brakes. The flat headlight bezels extend far into the sides of the laterally sweeping front end, underscoring the horizontally aligned architecture of the vehicle body.
Audi A6 e-tron concept’s lighting technology
The flat headlights and taillights are slim and flush with the overall composition of the lines. Digital Matrix LED and digital OLED technology makes it possible to achieve maximum brightness and a wide range of features even with a minimal surface area, while at the same time offering customizable light signatures.
The Digital Matrix LED front headlights achieve almost cinematic quality. If, for example, the Audi A6 e-tron concept is parked in front of a wall during a break to recharge the battery, the driver and passengers can pass the time playing a video game projected onto it. Instead of on a small screenin the cockpit, they’ll see their respective game’s virtual landscapes projected onto the wall in XXL format – and all this via the Digital Matrix LED headlights. Players can stand next to or directly in front of the vehicle for a particularly good view of the game, which is several meters wide.
Players control the game via smartphone. And even the game itself is an Audi product – Audi designers conceived and developed it especially for the Audi A6 e-tron concept!
Specs
Audi says the flat-floored PPE will eventually underpin a whole family of new EVs, and that the most powerful A6 e-trons will get an impressive 462bhp and 800 nm of torque, as well as a 100kWh battery. Those will also manage over 700 kilometres of range and will be able to accept 270kW charging where the infrastructure allows. For reference, that means a 10-minute charge will get you around 186 miles of range.
There’ll be rear-wheel drive and quattro versions of the electric A6 when it arrives in a couple of years time too, and possibly even an Avant on the same platform.