Here’s what we learned driving Audi’s new Q6 and SQ6 electric SUVs

HEALDSBURG, Calif.—Earlier this summer, Ars got its first drive of Audi's new Q6 e-tron on some very wet roads in Spain. Then, we were driving pre-production Q6s in Euro-spec. Now, the electric SUV is on sale in the US, with more power in the base model and six months more refinement for its software. But the venue change did not bring a change of weather—heavy rain was the order of the day, making me wonder if Audi is building its new electric vehicle on the site of an ancient rain god's temple?

Of all its rivals, Audi appears to have settled into a nomenclature for its vehicles that at least makes a little sense. Odd numbers are for internal combustion engines, even numbers for EVs, although it also appends "e-tron" on the end to make that entirely clear... and give francophones something to snicker about. (Yes, the e-tron GT does not fit into this schema, but nobody's perfect.)

The Q6 e-tron is also the most advanced EV to wear Audi's four rings. Built on a new architecture called PPE (premium platform electric), at its heart is an 800 V powertrain with a 100 kWh (94.4 kWh useable) lithium-ion battery pack that powers a permanently excited synchronous motor driving the rear wheels, and in the case of the quattro versions, an asynchronous motor. The electric motors have 30 percent less energy consumption than those used in the Q8 e-tron, and are smaller and lighter.

That makes it a lot more up to date than the Q8 e-tron, which uses a modified version of Audi's venerable MLB Evo platform, or the smaller Q4 e-tron, a somewhat disappointing electric crossover that's essentially a Volkswagen ID.4 with a glow-up. That goes for the Q6 e-tron's electronics, which are also a generation newer than the Q4 e-tron, and also more capable.

Audi is starting off US Q6 e-tron sales with a pair of models, the $65,800 Q6 e-tron quattro and the $72,900 SQ6 e-tron quattro. A $63,800 single-motor (not-quattro) Q6 e-tron will be available in time, with 302 hp (225 kW) and an EPA range of 321 miles (517 km), but we'll have to wait a while before we get behind the wheel of that one.