Today, Audi is unveiling the Q6 e-tron, a next-gen electric vehicle based on the new PPE platform co-developed by Audi and Porsche.
It is going to compete in the highly popular midsize SUV segment, and when it comes to specs and design, I think the German brand has a winner. But pricing is not available yet.
Disclosure: Audi paid for my flights to and from Munich, and my hotel stay so that I could get a “sneak preview” of the Q6 e-tron. The company had no say in our reporting, nor did it ask to.
Last week, Audi brought a bunch of auto journalists and myself to Munich to get briefed on the PPE platform, a new EV platform co-developed by Audi in Porsche, and get a first look at the German brand’s first vehicle built on it: the Q6 etron.
Electrek already checked out the Porsche Macan EV, the other PPE-based vehicle coming to market this year, but we are excited to see Audi’s own take on it.
While several legacy automakers are pulling back on their electrification plans, I made sure to poke around last week and gauge the German company’s own level of commitment to its electrification effort. I was pleased to hear that Audi is still committed to stopping launching new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2027 and going all-electric by 2033.
The launch of the Q6 e-tron makes this much more realistic as it not only comes based on a next-gen EV platform bringing a lot of improvements compared to Audi’s other EV platforms, but it also completes its SUV EV lineup with the Q4 e-tron and Q8 e-tron.
Audi Q6 e-tron’s new PPE platform tech
My main complaint about Audi’s electric vehicles was their efficiency. There were a few reasons for that. The automaker was, and still is to a lesser degree, fairly conservative with a big buffer on its battery packs.
Of course, Audi also makes premium SUVs packed with features, which makes it quite a challenge to achieve a high level of efficiency.
But with the PPE, Audi is benefiting from a much more efficient electric powertrain that helps make the Q6 e-tron much more efficient than previous generations.
At the battery level, PPE includes improvements at every stage, from the cells to the pack:
Audi is now using much more energy-dense CATL NMC cells in a prismatic form factor. It also increased the size of its modules with 15 cells per module and 12 modules per pack.
At the pack level, Audi’s PPE pack is more efficient in design with a new thermal management system.
For the Q6, the battery pack has a total capacity of 100 kWh and a useful capacity of 94.9 kWh:
The European market will get a version with the two middle modules removed for a total capacity of 83 kWh, but like with its other electric SUVs, Audi doesn’t believe that it’s worth bringing vehicles with shorter ranges to market in the US.
At the drive unit level, Audi has also made some major improvements with the PPE platform both on the power and torque density and with efficiency:
This was achieved through a bunch of improvements to advanced cooling and lubrification systems, amongst other things.
With the Q6, Audi is using an asynchronous motor on the front axel and a permanent magnet motor on the rear.
Audi has also improved battery preconditioning,w which now has an even greater impact on charge time:
The automaker already had a great charging curve, but it now says that the new battery pre-conditioning can shave off 18 minutes of charging in cold temperatures.
Speaking of cold temperatures, the Q6 is equipped with a new heat pump integrated with the powertrain thermal management system:
Heat pumps are a great way to minimize the impact of climate control on range. They are generally seen as particularly useful in colder climates, but Audi has shared some interesting data about their impact.
The automaker claims that the new heat pump in the Q6 e-tron can increase the range by 30 km (~19 miles) between -10°C to 20°C (14°F to 68°F):
Beyond all these efficiency and performance improvements, the PPE also brings scalability and cost improvements.
Audi Q6 e-tron Design
The Q6 is a midsize SUV coming to complete the electrification of Audi’s SUV lineup. It sits between the smaller Q4 and bigger Q8, while being the electric counterpart to the popular Q5.
The brand is doing something where the even numbers are electric and odd numbers ICE.
The Audi Q6 e‑tron has a length of 4,771 millimeters (15.6 ft), a width of 1,993 millimeters (6.5 ft) and a height of 1,648 millimeters (5.4 ft) – making it just a smidge bigger than the popular Tesla Model Y.
The vehicle has an extremely long wheelbase with short overhands and a high front-end – giving it an aggressive-looking stance despite some mostly soft lines on the sides.
It has a well-executed fake grille.
From the back, you can see the more classic Audi look:
You have 10 different wheel design options for the Q6 from 19″ to 21″.
The back also features the new second-generation digital Audi OLED lights. There are some really cool things Audi can do with those, but unfortunately, some of the functionalities, specifically everything with motion, won’t be available in the US due to regulations.
You will still be able to configure some static ‘light signatures’, which is pretty cool.
The front trunk or frunk is nothing huge, but it’s big enough to hold a small piece of luggage or your mobile charger.
It holds 64 liters (2.2 cu ft) of storage space.
The trunk is much more spacious at 526 liters (18.5 cu ft) of storage space with the backseat up. If you fold them down, the storage space increases to up to 1,529 liters (53.9 cu ft).
Moving to the interior, you will find a variety of interesting materials. I was particularly impressed by the version that I saw at the sneak preview, which had some cool cloth and mesh materials, but we were unfortunately told that some wouldn’t make it to the North American version of the car.
Nonetheless, the interior is solid with a large back seat that can comfortably seat people much taller than 6 ft.
You have a center console that folds in the middle and two USB C plugs underneath the rear climate controls.
But the cockpit is where the fun is at. The star of the show is a new curve display that actually consists of two screens: an instrument cluster in front of the driver and a touchscreen at the center of the dash:
There’s also an optional passenger display that has a privacy mode limiting the field of view so that the content is not visible to the driver. It enables the passenger to safely play videos on the screen while the car is moving.
As if that’s not enough, there’s also an optional heads-up display for the driver. It’s one of the best I’ve seen so far. It’s bright and covers a very large area that interacts with its environment, like integrating navigation.
Now, all of these screens are powered by new software built on the Android Automotive operating system. It’s smoother, allows easier and more in-depth software updates, and allows better and faster integration of third-party apps.
This should be a big step up in user experience inside the vehicle.
Audi Q6 e-tron Specs
During the sneak preview, we mainly saw the European versions of the Q6 and their specs, but Audi America has released some official specs and estimates.
For example, the North American market is actually getting more powerful motors on the Q6 e-tron.
Here’s what Audi is releasing so far in terms of specs for the US market:
The standard Q6 60 e-tron quattro achieves over 300 miles of range on the EPA test cycle based on preliminary manufacturer estimates.
To be announced later this year.
Charging
DC Fast Charging: 270 kW HPC @ 800 volts, capable of 10-80% SOC in 21 mins.AC Charging: 9.6kW (240V/40A)
DC Fast Charging: 270 kW HPC @ 800 volts, capable of 10-80% SOC in 21 mins.AC Charging: 9.6kW (240V/40A)
Lighting
Due to U.S. regulations, certain lighting functionalities are not available. More information will follow later this year.
Due to U.S. regulations, certain lighting functionalities are not available. More information will follow later this year.
When it comes to the range, Audi is only confirming “over 300 miles) on the EPA test cycle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets much more than that as it is getting 625 km (388 miles) on the WLTP standard.
Audi has always had a strong charging curve in its electric vehicles, and the Q6 e-tron with the PPE platform is no exception.
It’s capable of charging at 270 kW on a 800-volt system and 135 kW on bank charging on 400-volt.
But the really impressive thing is how the powertrain is able to keep the high charge rate at a high state of charge. Here’s the full charge curve:
The Q6 e-tron also has a strong 220 kW regenerative braking, and to our enjoyment, Audi is bringing a true one-pedal driving experience to the Q6 e-tron. You can choose between 4 different levels of regen braking with the top one allowing for one-pedal driving and a complete stop.
The electric SUV also comes with adaptive cruise control powered by a front camera, radar, and ultrasonic radars.
Exact pricing and availability have not been released just yet, but it is coming to Europe in the next few months and in North America toward the end of the year.
As for pricing, Audi has limited its communication to “between the Q4 and Q8,” which starts at $50,995 and $73,700, respectively.
No NACS for the Audi Q6 e-tron
This is a real bummer, but it’s not too bad, considering it might be the only real objective downside to this new entry from the German brand. Everything else is either great or subjective.
You also can’t really blame Audi, as it is more of a timing issue than anything. The automaker has announced plans to adopt NACS in North America, but the Q6 is coming a bit too soon for integration, which will come to new vehicles coming in 2025.
Owners are going to have to use an adapter to access the Supercharger network.
On the bright side, the Q6 e-tron has a great charging curve and also two charge ports. The DC-capable driver-side charge port is well located for the Supercharger network, and the passenger charge port is great for street charging.
Electrek’s Take
If you can’t tell yet, I really like this SUV. I only drove it for a few minutes, and it was a nice fully-loaded SQ6 with air suspension, so my driving impressions aren’t worth that much, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Audi is selling about 75,000 Q5 SUVs a year in the US now, and it expects the Q6 to take over that market as it transitions entirely to EVs over the next 10 years.
That’s a big and scary transition for a legacy automaker, but I think the Q6 e-tron should give them confidence going into it. Based on everything I’ve seen so far, it is highly competitive on the higher end of this segment. Emphasis on higher end. This is very much a premium and highly customizable vehicle.
The PPE platform looks like a solid base on which Audi built an interesting design packed with high-tech features, from the lighting to the HUD to the Android-based OS.
Obviously, Model Y comparisons are going to come since it’s now the world’s best-selling vehicle, and it also competes in the midsize SUV segment. During its own sneak preview in Germany last week, Audi itself identified the Model Y as a competitor.
That said, I don’t expect it to compete price-wise, especially in the US, since Audi doesn’t have access to the tax credit as it doesn’t have a US factory. If it does compete with the Model Y, it will mainly shave some demand off the top from customers looking for a more premium experience.
The Q6 e-tron will likely start at closer to ~$60,000, and you will be able to add options probably close to $80,000.
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Global renewable developer and energy giant RWE has halted its US offshore wind operations “for the time being” because of the “political environment” the Trump administration has created.
RWE, Germany’s biggest electricity producer, said in March that it had dialed back its US offshore wind activities. But now, CEO Marcus Krebber said in a speech transcript, which he’ll deliver at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Essen on April 30, that its US offshore wind business is now closed (but it wasn’t all bad news):
In the US, where we have stopped our offshore activities for the time being, our business in onshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage has so far been developing very dynamically. At the start of this year, we reached an important milestone when our US generation capacity hit the 10 gigawatt mark. The construction of a further 4 gigawatts is secured.
He went on to say that renewables have created regional value and jobs, but that the company remains “cautious given the political developments.” RWE has introduced more stringent requirements for future US investments:
All necessary federal permits must be in place. Tax credits must be safe harbored and all relevant tariff risks mitigated. In addition, onshore wind and solar projects must have secured offtake at the time of the investment decision. Only if these conditions are met will further investments be possible, given the political environment.
About half of RWE’s installed renewable capacity is in the US, where it’s the third-largest renewable energy company through its subsidiary, RWE Clean Energy. RWE holds the rights to develop US offshore wind projects in New York, Louisiana, and California.
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RWE paid $1.1 billion for the New York lease area in 2022, where it’s meant to develop the 3 gigawatt (GW) Community Offshore Wind with the UK’s National Grid. Community Offshore Wind was projected to come online in the early 2030s and expected to power more than a million homes.
The developer paid $5.6 billion for the Louisiana lease in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023 as the lone bidder for development rights, and the Canopy Offshore Wind project off Northern California was not expected to be completed for another decade.
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and his allies have raked in nearly $900,000 in trading fees over the past two days from the president’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency token, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain data company.
The surge came after a Wednesday announcement in which the top 220 holders of the token were promised dinner with the president.
“Have Dinner in Washington, D.C. With President Trump,” reads a message on the front page of the Trump coin’s website. The event, which is black tie optional and hosted at the president’s private club in the Washington area, is scheduled for May 22, with a reception for the top 25 holders. A “VIP White House Tour” will take place the following day, the site says. The website also hosts an active leaderboard displaying the usernames of top buyers.
The $TRUMP memecoin jumped more than 50% on the dinner news, boosting its total market value to $2.7 billion. It was met with fierce criticism from some of Trump’s political opponents who said the move was further evidence that the president was using crypto to enrich himself. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a prominent Trump critic, wrote on X that the sale was “the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close.”
Roughly 80% of the $TRUMP token supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and affiliates, according to the project’s website. Since its launch in January, trading activity has generated about $324.5 million in trading fees for insiders, Chainalysis found. These fees are generated through the token’s built-in mechanism that routes a percentage of each trade to wallets controlled by the project — wallets that, according to the website, are linked to the coin’s creators.
Memecoins, often referred to as meme tokens, are a subset of digital assets that use blockchain technology and derive their value largely from internet culture, memes and social media hype rather than from an underlying utility or asset. The originators of memecoins can make fees when their coins are bought and sold.
They have grown in popularity in recent years as speculative assets, with some coins including dogecoin and fartcoin amassing total market values in excess of $1 billion.
Most of the $TRUMP supply remains locked under a three-year vesting plan, with coins gradually becoming available over time. Lockups like these are meant to protect investors by preventing insiders from cashing out all at once — a scheme commonly known in the crypto world as a “rug pull.” Vesting schedules aim to give retail buyers confidence that early holders won’t overwhelm the market and tank the token’s value.
Still, the dinner contest is being viewed by critics as an unusually explicit attempt to monetize presidential access.
As CNBC reported Friday, Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are urging the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether the promotion constitutes “pay to play” corruption.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The company behind the memecoin also did not respond to a request for comment.
Delaney Marsco, the director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit focused on campaign finance and government accountability, told NBC News the coin and dinner contest amounted to an unprecedented ethics breach — though it is unlikely to be illegal.
“Criminal conflicts of interest statutes don’t apply to the President,” she said. “That has allowed him to go against decades of of norms that every modern president since Carter has adhered to, which is to divest your financial interests, rid yourself of your businesses, and kind of go in to the presidency with a clean financial slate so that no one could accuse you of manipulating policy decisions or using your position in order to enrich yourself.”
“The fact that he is not barred by the law from having these financial interests like this meme coin allows him to engage in a lot of seemingly corrupt activity. It has the appearance of a pay to play, so the President is apparently selling access to himself,” Marsco added.
Molly White, an independent crypto researcher, told NBC News that the leaderboard only shows top $TRUMP holders — and then only by their chosen screen name, making it difficult to identify who is paying to potentially join the dinner.
Schiff and Warren have cited public reports showing that some $TRUMP investors have ties to foreign exchanges or received funds from crypto platforms banned in the U.S., including Binance.
White also noted that at least one top $TRUMP owner has an account on Binance, a cryptocurrency company that doesn’t allow American users.
Trump was elected with significant help from the cryptocurrency industry, which poured tens of millions of dollars into the 2024 election, outpacing corporate donations from traditional sectors like banking and oil. After opposing digital assets during his first term, Trump pivoted in 2024 to campaign as a champion of cryptocurrency, casting Democrats as hostile to innovation and as advocating for tighter regulation.
The $TRUMP token itself offers no product or service, according to the project’s website. It is part of a broader push by the Trump family into digital assets, despite the market’s volatility and regulatory risks.
In addition to the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins, the family is backing World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance venture that has raised $550 million across two token sales since last October. Buyers are barred from reselling their tokens and receive no share of profits — but a Trump-affiliated entity is entitled to 75% of net revenue, including token sale proceeds.
Together, these projects have created new streams of revenue for Trump and his inner circle at a time when regulatory oversight of cryptocurrency has weakened sharply under his administration.
It’s that time of year again, time for events across the country to show off electric vehicles at Drive Electric Earth Month.
Drive Electric Earth Month is an offshoot of Drive Electric Week, a long-running annual tradition hosting meetups mostly in the US, but also occasionally in other countries. It started as Drive Electric Earth Day, but since not every event can happen on the same day, they went ahead and extended it to encompass “Earth Month” events that happen across the month of April. It’s all organized by Plug In America, the Sierra Club, the Electric Vehicle Association, EV Hybrid Noire, and Drive Electric USA.
Events consist of general Earth Day-style community celebrations, EV Ride & Drives where you can test drive several EVs in one place, and opportunities to talk to EV owners and ask them questions about what it’s like to live with an EV, away from the pressure of a dealership.
But the bulk of the events happened on the weekends surrounding Earth Day, April 22, so there were several last weekend and will be even more this upcoming weekend.
There are plenty of events in the big cities where you’d expect, but Plug In America wanted to highlight a few of the events in smaller places around the country. Here’s a sampling of upcoming events:
Big Island EV – Cruise and Picnic in Waimea, HI on April 26, 10am-1pm – EV drivers will congregate in various places around the Big Island (Kona, Waimea, Waikoloa and Hilo), then drive up Saddle Road to the Gil Kahele Recreation Area on Mauna Kea for a potluck and a chance to talk about the experience of owning EVs on the Big Island.
Santa Barbara Earth Day 2025 and Green Car Show in Santa Barbara, CA on April 26-27, 11am-8pm – This is part of Santa Barbara’s Earth Day celebration, which routinely attracts 30,000 participants and is one of the longest-running Earth Day celebrations on the planet. The Green Car Show includes ride & drives and an “Owners Corner” where owners can showcase their EVs and attendees can check them out and ask questions.
Earth Day’25 – EV’s role in a sustainable future in Queretaro City, Mexico on April 26, 9am-4pm – The sole Mexican event, this is a combined in-person/online seminar at the Querétaro Institute of Technology.
Norman Earth Day Festival in Norman, OK on April 27, 12-5pm – Another municipal Earth Day festival, with hands-on activities for kids to learn about the environment. A portion of the parking lot reserved for an EV car show for EV owners who pre-register to show off their vehicles.
Oregon Electric Vehicle Association Test Drive & Information Expo in Portland, OR on April 27, 10am-4pm – This one is at Daimler Truck’s North American HQ, and will have several EVs for test drives, owner displays (including DIY gas-to-EV conversions), and keynote presentations by EV experts. They’ll even have a 1914 Detroit Electric EV available for test rides!
And, we at Electrek want to give a shoutout to Rove’s EV Drive Days in Santa Ana 10am-3pm April 28 – ROVE is the company behind the “full-service” EV charging concept that we’ve talked about several times here on Electrek, and we like what they’re doing for EV charging. They’ve hosted a few community events, and this is their contribution to Earth Month.
Each event has a different assortment of activities (e.g. test drives won’t be available at every event, generally just the larger ones attended by local dealerships), so be sure to check the events page to see what the plan is for your local event.
These events have offered a great way to connect with owners and see the newest electric vehicle tech, and even get a chance to do test rides and drives in person. Attendees got to hear unfiltered information from actual owners about the benefits and trials of owning EVs, allowing for longer and more genuine (and often more knowledgeable) conversations than one might normally encounter at a dealership.
And if you’re an owner – you can show off your car and answer those questions for interested onlookers.
To view all the events and see what’s happening in your area, you can check out the list of events or the events map. You can also sign up to volunteer at your local events, and if you plan to show off your electric car, you can RSVP on each event page and list the vehicle that you plan to show (or see what other vehicles have already registered).
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