With Audi set to launch its final gas-powered car in 2026, most models in the automaker’s lineup in the coming years will transition to electric power, including those from the Audi Sport division.
Audi Sport is responsible for S- and RS-badged Audis (as well as the R8 supercar), and there are already electric models carrying both badges in the form of the E-Tron S and RS E-Tron GT.
Our latest spy shots show what’s thought to be another electric RS model, an RS 6 E-Tron based on the upcoming A6 E-Tron.
The prototype may look like some of the testers for the regular A6 E-Tron but a closer inspection reveals details like flared wheel arches and an uprated brake package with red calipers.
2024 Audi RS 6 E-Tron spy shots – Photo credit: Baldauf
A concept of the A6 E-Tron shown in 2021 packed a 100-kwh battery and dual-motor powertrain good for 469 hp and 590 lb-ft. Output in the RS 6 E-Tron should at a minimum match the maximum 621 hp available in the gas-powered RS 6 Avant.
Interestingly, there’s also likely to be an RS 6 Avant E-Tron, since Audi has hinted that the regular A6 E-Tron will have an Avant wagon option with the A6 Avant E-Tron concept shown last March.
Audi A6 Avant E-Tron concept
The A6 E-Tron, and thus any RS version, has been designed around Volkswagen Group’s new PPE modular EV platform for high-volume luxury models. The platform debuts later this year in the Audi Q6 E-Tron crossover, which is also expected to spawn an RS variant.
The A6 E-Tron is also due out later this year. The RS version will likely trail it by about six months to a year.
