Radical electric Audi A6 brings 463-mile range for £69,900

Order books for the new Audi A6 have opened, with the executive car priced from £69,900 in saloon form and £71,700 as an estate.

Unlike its primary rivals, which run adjacent to the combustion-engined E-Class and 5 Series, Audi has opted to transition one of its most important models to solely electric power. In turn, the outgoing petrol and diesel A6 will adopt the A7 moniker – previously reserved for Audi’s luxurious four-door coupé – for a new generation that will arrive next year.

Visually, the new A6 E-tron remains faithful to the concept of the same name that was shown three years ago. The addition of equipment required for production – larger air intakes, full-size headlights and ADAS sensors – has made for a lightly restyled front end, but the sleek, muscular proportions remain intact.

The saloon follows its high-riding stablemate, the Q6 E-tron, onto the new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, offering 800V electrics as well as a broad range of battery packs and powertrains.

The headline performance statistic is the range-topping Sportback’s officail more than 463 miles, which eclipses the official figures for the equivalent i5 (356 miles) and EQE (429 miles). The estate-bodied A6 E-tron Avant concedes 26 miles of range, owing to its less aerodynamic shape, pegging it at a claimed 437 miles.

A key component in achieving those figures is a new and more efficient 94.9kWh (usable capacity) battery, which has been designed specifically for the PPE platform and comprises 12 modules and 180 cells. Audi has also confirmed that a 10-module 79kWh unit will become available shortly after the new A6’s launch.

Both batteries use a new lithium ion nickel-manganesecobalt make-up that is said to enable a 30% improvement in cell density over with the packs in the Q8 E-tron and E-tron GT.

The A6 can be recharged at 11kW on a domestic AC supply through either of its charging ports – mounted on each of the car’s rear haunches – but the driver’s side port can also take DC at rates of up to 270kW. An upgrade to 22kW AC charging is planned for later in the car’s life cycle.