Audi Unveils Exclusive Q6L e-tron For Chinese Market

Audi has unveiled a customized variant of the Q6 e-tron for China – the Audi Q6L e-tron – at the Beijing Auto Show 2024. The Q6 e-tron is the first Audi production product built on the Premium Platform Electric architecture, and this extended-wheelbase builds upon the brand’s history of offering extended-wheelbase products to affluent Chinese buyers who value the extra space as they’re being chauffeured around.

This electric car will officially be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024, with deliveries starting in 2025. Designed for China, it boasts enhanced driving performance and a longer range, along with improved interior space and comfort. Remember, this market prioritizes legroom in its luxury cars. It’s another in a series of Chinese-only products the company sees as the aggressive strategy necessary to capture a greater portion of the EV market in the country in the coming years.

Tailored To China

The wheelbase on the model has been extended by a little over four inches, creating extended legroom in the rear seats and giving the company the ability to tailor the looks to the region with a stretched roofline that tapers toward the rear. The face of the model is dominated by a massive grille flanked by blacked-out elements on the sides and underneath, giving the viewer the impression of a much larger mouth. On our upcoming US-spec Q6 e-tron version, the front fascia has fewer blacked-out pieces, and is cut up with accent colors.

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Down the sides, you see where additional length was added to the doors, and you also see the integrated door handles, which are a first for the company. The rear looks very similar to ours but with a slightly redesigned lower fascia. The vehicle will also offer the market-specific Lilac Grey exterior color, which we wouldn’t mind seeing arrive stateside.

Audi doesn’t mention too much about the interior, meaning it’s most likely very similar to the US-spec version with the addition of extra rear legroom and more luxurious rear seats.

Technology like no other Audi

It isn’t enough anymore that a brand can just extend the wheelbase and call it a day in a country that demands exclusivity with every model. This is why the Q6L offers a vehicle that is more tailored to the market than ever before, with bespoke infotainment and driver assistance systems all offering China-specific details.

Based on the brand new End-To-End Electronic Architecture 1.2, the company aimed to create a future-proof standardized framework for the systems in the vehicle that allows for constant updates and improvements to control all the systems in the vehicle. Besides infotainment interfaces specifically built for the country, the vehicle offers adaptive Driving Assistant Pro and Parking Assistant Pro.

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In addition, the model offers adaptive lighting technology with redesigned daytime running lights, Matrix LED headlights, and OLED rear lights. They respond to the environment around the vehicle in new innovative ways thanks to extensive integration with one of the five computers in the new End-To-End Electronic Architecture.

Thanks to the extra space in the wheelbase, this model will offer greater performance than its shorter siblings. This all starts with a 107 kWh battery pack that is 7 kWh larger than the ones available in our versions. Audi is claiming 434 miles of range based on CLTC tests, so we deduce the battery will only really add about 25 miles of range.

Based on the same 800-volt architecture as our models, it can charge at speeds up to 270 kW, replenishing 10-80% in just 21 minutes. In addition to this, the system can partition the battery into two 400-volt packs that can be charged simultaneously for more efficient charging. Finally, it will be produced in a 341-horsepower RWD version and a 462-hp quattro version, with the latter offering slightly worse range.

Built at the Audi FAW NEV Company factory in Changchun, China, production will commence in late 2024 for 2025 deliveries. As this is an extended wheelbase version, we don’t have any hope of it reaching US shores, but then again, all that extra rear legroom is pretty overrated anyway.