The Audi A6 Allroad Is Now A Plug-In Hybrid Antidote To Boring SUVs

Thanks to a big battery pack, the new A6 Allroad wagon can deliver nearly 60 miles of electric range on the WLTP cycle.

Photo by: Audi

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Jun 16, at 7:27am ET

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Audi’s legendary A6 Allroad wagon is getting a plug-in hybrid powertrain for the first time.
The beefed-up family hauler comes with a rather large cell-to-pack high-voltage battery pack.
All-electric range is nearly 60 miles, and the car comes standard with a lifted suspension and Quattro all-wheel drive.

I’ll be honest. One of the first cars I fell in love with as a kid was the original Audi A6 Allroad. It looked like nothing else on the road. It featured air suspension and was available with a manual transmission that included a low-range setting.

Now, fast-forward 27 years, and the latest-generation lifted Audi wagon lacks the low-range gearbox, but takes the tech fest to another level thanks to the addition of a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

Photo by: Audi

It’s the first time the beefed-up family hauler gets a plug, and it’s all for the better. Under the hood, there’s a two-liter gasoline engine connected to a seven-speed S tronic automatic transmission. Quattro all-wheel drive comes standard, as always, but now there’s also an electric motor integrated into the gearbox, which can power all four wheels on electricity.

That electricity comes from a rear-mounted high-voltage battery that’s built using the cell-to-pack method, where individual modules are fitted directly into the battery enclosure, foregoing the traditional modules and expanding the available capacity. Speaking of capacity, the new A6 Allroad e-hybrid’s battery can store up to 20.7-kilowatt-hours of usable energy (25.9 kWh gross), delivering up to 59 miles of all-electric range on a full charge on the WLTP cycle.

Charging the battery can only be done through an AC port located on the car’s rear left at up to 11 kilowatts from a Level 2 home charger. According to Audi, it takes roughly two and a half hours for a full charge. There’s no DC fast charging.

Photo by: Audi

The car’s four-cylinder gas engine makes 248 horsepower (185 kilowatts) on its own, while the electric motor that’s embedded in the transmission can deliver up to 141 hp (105 kW). The total system output is rated at 362 hp and 369 pound-feet (500 Newton-meters) of torque.

The PHEV model also gets a high-voltage PTC heater that keeps the cabin warm without having to turn on the gas engine, as well as an electric air conditioning compressor to keep the interior cool without burning fuel. When the battery’s state of charge runs low, however, the combustion engine will kick on to keep everything running.

Audi also offers the new A6 Allroad with a 3.0-liter diesel V-6 engine with mild-hybrid tech.

Compared to a regular Audi A6 Avant, the Allroad sits 1.3 inches (34 millimeters) higher and is 4.3 inches (111 mm) wider, making it the first Allroad to have a beefier body than the standard A6 wagon.

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All-wheel steering is standard on all models, enabling the rear wheels to turn by up to five degrees in the opposite direction to the front wheels at low speeds to improve maneuverability. At high speeds, the rear wheels turn in the same direction as the fronts to enhance stability. Adaptive air suspension is also standard, with four different ride height settings.

The new Audi A6 Allroad goes on sale in Europe this month with a starting price of €77,250 ($89,700 at the current exchange rate). There’s no word on whether the off-road-capable wagon will make it to the United States, where the regular A6 Avant wagon is only offered in the top-spec RS6 version.