Audi RS6 E-Tron electric performance car due next year – report

The Audi A6 E-Tron electric car is slated to receive a high-performance RS variant next year, according to an overseas report.

Audi design boss Marc Lichte reportedly told Top Gear magazine in the UK the RS6 E-Tron is due for unveiling sometime in 2024, based on the standard A6 E-Tron electric car that's slated to go on sale in Europe this year.

It is not clear if the electric RS6 will be a four-door sedan, based on the original A6 E-Tron sedan concept revealed in April 2021, or a five-door wagon, derived from the A6 Avant E-Tron concept of March 2022.

The RS6 has been sold exclusively as a wagon for its past two generations – and the last four-door RS6 sedan ended production in 2010.

Top Gear magazine says Mr Lichte told the publication the new RS6 E-Tron will be an "saloon" – the UK term for a sedan – but Mr Lichte's comments refer to the current RS6 wagon's versatility and ability to store "bikes inside, skis, so many things".

In sedan form, the RS6 E-Tron would compete internally with the Audi RS E-Tron GT, which is a similar size to the upcoming A6 E-Tron range, and is powered by dual electric motors developing up to 475kW.

Mr Lichte told Top Gear the new RS6 E-Tron – which will share the A6 E-Tron's Premium Platform Electric (PPE) chassis, co-developed with Porsche – will be differentiated by increased performance and wider bodywork.

The executive did not say how powerful the new RS6 E-Tron would be, however company representatives have previously indicated a dual-motor drivetrain producing approximately 530kW is planned for A6-sized cars on the PPE architecture.

If this is slated for the RS6 E-Tron, it would be the most powerful production car in Audi's history – surpassing the 475kW of the RS E-Tron GT, 463kW/850Nm of the current, special-edition RS6 Performance twin-turbo V8 wagon, and 441kW/800Nm of the regular RS6.

Mr Lichte said the A6 E-Tron concept sedan revealed in 2021 is "the narrow body," and said the RS6 E-Tron would receive wider bodywork.

The [RS6 E-Tron] will have definitely a different body, that means different track, different wheel diameter," the executive said.

"It would be a pleasure for me to show you now the A6 E-Tron, the Q6 E-Tron, all these future RS models… I love these ones," Mr Lichte said.

"I presented these to 1000 managers of our group in Berlin. And they went crazy when they saw the images and the models on the stage."

"And I’ll tell you why, RS is all about the combination between performance and functionality. I love the RS6 because I can put bikes inside, skis, so many things. That’s why I love it. And for me, stance. It’s always the wide track.

"If you think about competitors of Audi, are they in the market right now with performance [electric vehicles] with the wider track? I would say no. But maybe, at Audi… you will love our RS [electric vehicles]," Mr Lichte said.

The current V8-powered Audi RS6 is due for replacement in 2024 or 2025 – so it is unclear if it would be axed early, or sold alongside the electric model for a brief period of time.

The regular A6 E-Tron electric sedan is expected to be sold alongside the petrol and diesel-engined A6 sedan and wagon for the immediate future, with a facelift for the existing car spied testing that is expected to see it out until 2025 or 2026.

Standard versions of the new Audi A6 E-Tron are slated to feature battery packs up to 100kWh in capacity, one or two electric motors developing up to 350kW/800Nm, and up to 700km of claimed driving range.

It is set to share the PPE architecture with the Audi Q6 E-Tron and Porsche Macan electric mid-size SUVs, due next year or in 2024.