Audi A6 e-tron Avant review: Is the new EV version of the beloved estate charged with joy?

It's the most aerodynamic Audi ever, claims the manufacturer. Which makes the sporty five-door Audi A6 e-tron a sharp customer – speeding along effortlessly like a hot knife through butter.

And after clocking up hundreds of miles in the new model, I should know.

The all-electric A6 e-tron has been launched in two versions: a coupe-like Sportback and the Avant estate, carrying a £1,800 premium.

I've been piloting the estate for a week, ahead of the petrol and diesel alternatives to be launched at the beginning of March.

Fully charged, my car's on-screen system predicted a range of 280 miles – enough to get from London to Durham – but less than the officially claimed 402 miles which would get me onwards to Edinburgh.

The A6 e-tron is not cheap. There are four performance levels, e-tron, performance, quattro and S6 e-tron, and three trim grades, Sport, S-line and the top-spec Edition 1.

Effortless drive: The handsome A6 e-tron is the most aerodynamic Audi ever, claims the manufacturer

The least expensive model to buy, from £62,500, is the entry-level A6 e-tron Sportback Sport, which has the smaller 83kWh battery and a range of 383 miles, accelerating from 0 to 62mph in 6 seconds.

Prices then rise all the way up to the range-topping S6 e-tron, which is all-wheel drive, packs 551hp and does 0 to 62mph in a super-car chasing 3.9 seconds. It costs from £75,500.

If you're feeling really flush, the most expensive fully-specced S6 Avant estate in Edition 1 trim starts from £99,300.

Superb: Ray Massey drove the A6 e-tron performance with top Edition 1 spec, plus extras

Sleek: The all-electric A6 e-tron has been launched in two versions

Plush: The interior of the Audi A6 e-tron

Range: Prices rise all the way up to the range-topping S6 e-tron

Performance: Ray Massey found the A6 e-tron an impressive and sophisticated car to drive

My car was the A6 e-tron performance with top Edition 1 spec, plus extras, which took the final price, as driven, up to £87,350.

These included a vast panoramic glass roof, big 21in Audi Sport wheels, electronic rear-view cameras in lieu of mirrors, a great augmented reality sat-nav and head-up display, and a super Bang & Olufsen stereo teamed with headrest speakers.

My handsome Audi exhibited dark and brooding looks – like a 21st century automotive Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. There are four drive modes – balanced, dynamic, comfort and efficient – and comfortable sports seats in the spacious and well thought out cabin.

I found 'balanced' a well-tuned and engaging mode, and stuck with it mostly. It's great for cruising through the countryside and mile-munching on motorways.

But on twisting lanes, the 'dynamic' option tightened the sinews and offered a more aggressive mode.

Has Kia's eye-catching EV3 got the winning formula? RAY MASSEY puts it to the test

Over a few hundred miles of travel, I found the A6 e-tron an impressive and sophisticated car to drive.

All that with plenty of room for passengers in the back and a 502-litre boot.

What elese do you need to know about the A6 e-tron estate?

Tech is a huge selling point for new cars now - and with EVs being seen as the cutting edge, expensive ones can come fully loaded.

The most ‘Marmite’ option added was the virtual side mirrors which use rear-facing cameras in place of reflective glass and projecting the image into the armpit area of the car’s interior between the door and the dashboard. I found it fine though there is limited scope to adjust the view.

But by far my favourite extra was an augmented-reality head-up display system which made sat-nav guidance a delight to use by projecting large blue directional arrows onto the windscreen to guide my next move.

Add to that the astonishingly high-res aerial view of the route and the surrounding landscape showing on the central dashboard. I could even clearly see my house and garden.

Other add-ons included a matt brushed aluminium inlay and trim, enhanced interior lighting, rear USB charging, and an upgraded Bang&Olufsen premium sound system with headrest speakers that proved so good I sat in the driveway listening to it. This was all on top of an already fairly extensive list of goodies.

Along with the Q6 e-tron SUV, the new A6 e-tron is the first Audi built on a new premium 800v electric car platform (PPE) developed jointly with Porsche.

Additionally, says Audi of the Sportback: ‘It is the most aerodynamic in Audi history with a drag coefficient of 0.21.’

My Avant is the most aerodynamic estate at 0.24.

For its longest range version Audi claims an official ‘headline’ range of up to 463 miles – enough to get you from London to the bonny banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland - though again expect real-world driving to knock a fair few miles off that ambition.

When can you buy a petrol or diesel A6

If electric is still not for you, 2.0 litre petrol and diesel versions of the new A6 are to be launched at the beginning of March ahead of first deliveries in summer.

Curiously, these cars – built on a different platform – were originally going to be named ‘A7’, under an Audi system to give ‘even numbers’ to electric cars and ‘odd numbers’ to those with petrol or diesel engines.

But it threatened to create so much confusion among customers that Audi bosses sensibly decided to drop the idea.

Rivals in the same price bracket include the BMW i5 eDrive40 M Sport saloon and Mercedes-Benz’s EQE 350+ AMG Line Edition saloon.

The new Audi A6 arrives as Audi is undertaking what it hails its ‘biggest product offensive ever’ to fully renew its portfolio with more than 20 models to be launched by the end of 2025 – of which 10 will be fully electric.

Audi says that by 2027 it plans to have a fully-electric vehicle in every core segment of its portfolio.

Despite its premium status, Audi was the third best-selling brand in the UK in 2024, outselling many mainstream car-makers with more mass-market appeal.

Amazingly, the UK is Audi’s biggest market in Europe for electric cars - ahead even of its home-market Germany – with 1 in 5 of the 122,431 cars it sold in Britain last year being EVs.

When hybrids are added to the mix, 1 in 3 Audis sold in Britain had a plug.

As Audi also moves into the high Octane F1 racing arena, it is next year opening a new UK Technical Centre.

Citroen campervan to be unveiled

Citroen's Holidays campervan, will be unveiled at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show (ccmshow.co.uk) next week.

Sleeping up to four and with a kitchen, pop-up, retractable roof, and swivelling front seats, the new Holidays is based on Citroen's updated SpaceTourer.

Stylish: The new Holidays is based on Citroen's updated SpaceTourer

Ideal: Citroen's Holidays campervan sleeps up to four and has a kitchen

The kitchen has two gas burners, sink, and 16-litre refrigerator. There's also the option of a rear-mounted shower with a 25-litre tank and removable toilet.

The diesel Citroen Holidays on-the-road price is £55,285.

The show will be held at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre from February 18 to 23 and will be spread over five halls.