Audi A6 e-tron first drive: power, range, and luxury in a sleek design
We had a chance to test drive the Audi A6 e-tron, the German automaker’s second next-gen electric vehicle based on its new PPE platform, in Tenerife, Spain, a few weeks ago.
It delivers power, luxury, and an impressive range in a sleek design.
Disclaimer: Audi paid for my flights and lodging to go test out the A6 in Spain.
Outside of the e-tron GT, Audi has focused on SUVs when it comes to releasing new electric cars: the original e-tron, Q4, and Q8.
However, the German automaker has ambitions to electrify its entire lineup, and things are now moving faster with the introduction of the PPE platform, a new and long-awaited all-electric performance platform co-developed with Porsche.
Earlier this year, the automaker introduced the Q6 e-tron, its first vehicle based on the PPE, and we were quite impressed. The vehicle is much more efficient than Audi’s previous EVs, and it feels like the automaker is starting to settle into the role of producing electric vehicles.
The Q6 is an Audi, with all its performance and luxury, and a solid electric vehicle with a more than decent range and impressive charging capacity.
Audi A6 e-tron
Unsurprisingly, since it is based on the same platform, the Audi A6 has impressed me as much as the Q6 for the same reasons, but the form factor is more efficient. And you know I love my vehicles efficient.
The A6 is the most aerodynamic Audi ever, with a 0.21 drag coefficient in its most aerodynamic configuration. Unfortunately, we will not get it in North America because it involves replacing the side mirrors with cameras.
The North American version still gets an impressive 0.23 drag coefficient. The wheels can also make a big difference, and Audi offers many options.
Audi has already confirmed an EPA range of 370 miles (595 km) on the NA version of the A6 with 20″ wheels, but the automaker told us at the drive event that the upcoming 19″ wheels should enable 390 miles (628 km) of range.
That’s achieved on the same 100 kWh (94.4 kWh usable) battery pack.
Another reason the A6, like the Q6, achieves impressive range and efficiency is its strong regenerative braking.
Audi is taking the approach of offering a wide range of different regen braking strengths and modes, including applying the regen when using the brake pedal, but I personally exclusively use it in one-pedal driving mode (B). Once you get used to it, it’s hard to go back.
It makes the car more efficient and fun to drive.
At one point, we drove up to Mt. Teide, a dormant volcano on the island, at about 2 km of altitude. We were at about 250 km of range when I started driving back down to the hotel, which was on the coast about 68 km away.
We arrived at the hotel with about 300 km of range. That’s just awesome, and it’s not like I was trying to hypermile the A6. I was actually driving relatively aggressively, passing people, and we did about a dozen kilometers on the highway.
In terms of the actual driving experience, it was extremely reminiscent of the Q6 with a lower driving position. The cabin is dead quiet, which is the main feature of a luxury vehicle in my book. In dynamic mode, the steering is really responsive and you can always for more relaxed comfort modes.
The heads-up display clear and useful without being obnoxious.
The seats are incredibly comfortable, especially in the S6, the performance version of the A6, but you also have great options in the regular A6 or the S line A6, which adds S6 features without the performance.
I didn’t get to try these, but I thought they looked stunning:
Speaking of the performance, the basic rear-wheel drive with an output of 270 kW (280 kW with Launch Control) is plenty powerful. It gives you the peppiness that is so fun about EVs without being some crazy power.
If you want crazy power, the S6 can give you that. Even though we are more talking about a luxury family sedan, the dual motor all-wheel-drive powertrain can deliver 370 kW (405 kW with Launch Control) for a 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds.
It’s important to note that the higher performance level also comes with lower efficiency with the S6 getting 324 miles (521 km) of range.
That’s still more than a decent range, especially when combined with Audi’s impressive charging capability.
The A6 has a peak charge rate of 270 kW, but the charging curve is more impressive than the peak charge rate:
It makes the Audi A6 a great road trip car with the main downside being that it doesn’t have NACS in North America. Audi has locked the design a little too early for NACS integration.
This means that A6 owners must use an adapter to use the Supercharger network in North America.
Speaking of road trips, I was impressed by both the trunk opening and the overall space in the back without even having to lay down the back seat:
Audi had the Avant (wagon) version of the A6 at the drive event, but unfortunately, it was off-limits for us North American reporters since the automaker doesn’t plan to launch it in the US or Canada.
I think wagons look cool; it’s a bummer that they don’t sell well in North America. However, I have to say that I checked the Avant’s trunk compared to the sedan Sportback version and there wasn’t a big difference.
Audi A6 Pricing and Availability
We don’t have US pricing yet. That’s expected to arrive early next year before the A6 hits US dealerships a few months later.
Audi has released EU pricing for the “upper mid-range models”, which start at at 75,600 euros for the A6 Sportback e-tron performance and 77,250 euros for the A6 Avant e-tron performance. The S6 Sportback e-tron costs 99,500 euros and the price for the S6 Avant e-tron is 101,150 euros.
Electrek’s Take
Much like the Q6, I feel the A6’s main downside in North America is that it doesn’t come standard with a NACS connector.
If that’s your main downside, you are doing well since it just means that the few times a month you want/need to use a Supercharger station, you have to use an adapter. No big deal.
Speaking of charging, the A6 also has an interesting advantage on that front: an optional dual charger port.
You can have a CCS DC fast-charging capable port on the driver’s side and a level 2 J1772 on the other side. This can be super practical for people who often have the charge on city streets.
We still need to see the official pricing in the US on this, but I think with the range, efficiency, quiet cabin, and overall luxury, the 390-mile RWD A6 could prove to be a very interesting new entry in the EV market.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Environment
Trump wants coal to power AI data centers. The tech industry may need to make peace with that for now
President Donald Trump wants to revive the struggling coal industry in the U.S. by deploying plants to power the data centers that the Big Tech companies are building to train artificial intelligence.
Trump issued an executive order in April that directed his Cabinet to find areas of the U.S. where coal-powered infrastructure is available to support AI data centers and determine whether the infrastructure can be expanded to meet the growing electricity demand from the nation’s tech sector.
Trump has repeatedly promoted coal as power source for data centers. The president told the World Economic Forum in January that he would approve power plants for AI through emergency declaration, calling on the tech companies to use coal as a backup power source.
“They can fuel it with anything they want, and they may have coal as a backup — good, clean coal,” the president said.
Trump’s push to deploy coal runs afoul of the tech companies’ environmental goals. In the short-term, the industry’s power needs may inadvertently be extending the life of existing coal plants.
Coal produces more carbon dioxide emissions per kilowatt hour of power than any other energy source in the U.S. with the exception of oil, according to the Energy Information Administration. The tech industry has invested billions of dollars to expand renewable energy and is increasingly turning to nuclear power as a way to meet its growing electricity demand while trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that fuel climate change.
For coal miners, Trump’s push is a potential lifeline. The industry has been in decline as coal plants are being retired in the U.S. About 16% of U.S. electricity generation came from burning coal in 2023, down from 51% in 2001, according to EIA data.
Peabody Energy CEO James Grech, who attended Trump’s executive order ceremony at the White House, said “coal plants can shoulder a heavier load of meeting U.S. generation demands, including multiple years of data center growth.” Peabody is one of the largest coal producers in the U.S.
Grech said coal plants should ramp up how much power they dispatch. The nation’s coal fleet is dispatching about 42% of its maximum capacity right now, compared to a historical average of 72%, the CEO told analysts on the company’s May 6 earnings call.
“We believe that all coal-powered generators need to defer U.S. coal plant retirements as the situation on the ground has clearly changed,” Grech said. “We believe generators should un-retire coal plants that have recently been mothballed.”
Tech sector reaction
There is a growing acknowledgment within the tech industry that fossil fuel generation will be needed to help meet the electricity demand from AI. But the focus is on natural gas, which emits less half the CO2 of coal per kilowatt hour of power, according the the EIA.
“To have the energy we need for the grid, it’s going to take an all of the above approach for a period of time,” Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centers, said during a panel discussion at conference of tech and oil and gas executives in Oklahoma City last month.
“We’re not surprised by the fact that we’re going to need to add some thermal generation to meet the needs in the short term,” Miller said.
Thermal generation is a code word for gas, said Nat Sahlstrom, chief energy officer at Tract, a Denver-based company that secures land, infrastructure and power resources for data centers. Sahlstrom previously led Amazon’s energy, water and sustainability teams.
Executives at Amazon, Nvidia and Anthropic would not commit to using coal, mostly dodging the question when asked during the panel at the Oklahoma City conference.
“It’s never a simple answer,” Amazon’s Miller said. “It is a combination of where’s the energy available, what are other alternatives.”
Nvidia is able to be agnostic about what type of power is used because of the position the chipmaker occupies on the AI value chain, said Josh Parker, the company’s senior director of corporate sustainability. “Thankfully, we leave most of those decisions up to our customers.”
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said there are a broader set of options available than just coal. “We would certainly consider it but I don’t know if I’d say it’s at the top of our list.”
Sahlstrom said Trump’s executive order seems like a “dog whistle” to coal mining constituents. There is a big difference between looking at existing infrastructure and “actually building new power plants that are cost competitive and are going to be existing 30 to 40 years from now,” the Tract executive said.
Coal is being displaced by renewables, natural gas and existing nuclear as coal plants face increasingly difficult economics, Sahlstrom said. “Coal has kind of found itself without a job,” he said.
“I do not see the hyperscale community going out and signing long term commitments for new coal plants,” the former Amazon executive said. (The tech companies ramping up AI are frequently referred to as “hyperscalers.”)
“I would be shocked if I saw something like that happen,” Sahlstrom said.
Coal retirements strain grid
But coal plant retirements are creating a real challenge for the grid as electricity demand is increasing due to data centers, re-industrialization and the broader electrification of the economy.
The largest grid in the nation, the PJM Interconnection, has forecast electricity demand could surge 40% by 2039. PJM warned in 2023 that 40 gigawatts of existing power generation, mostly coal, is at risk of retirement by 2030, which represents about 21% of PJM’s installed capacity.
Data centers will temporarily prolong coal demand as utilities scramble to maintain grid reliability, delaying their decarbonization goals, according to a Moody’s report from last October. Utilities have already postponed the retirement of coal plants totaling about 39 gigawatts of power, according to data from the National Mining Association.
“If we want to grow America’s electricity production meaningfully over the next five or ten years, we [have] got to stop closing coal plants,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC’s “Money Movers” last month.
But natural gas and renewables are the future, Sahlstrom said. Some 60% of the power sector’s emissions reductions over the past 20 years are due to gas displacing coal, with the remainder coming from renewables, Sahlstrom said.
“That’s a pretty powerful combination, and it’s hard for me to see people going backwards by putting more coal into the mix, particularly if you’re a hyperscale customer who has net-zero carbon goals,” he said.
A federal court judge in Michigan has placed the once-promising electric truck brand Bollinger Motors’ assets into receivership following claims that the company’s owners still owe its founder, Robert Bollinger, more than $10 million.
Bollinger Motors first came to fame in the “draw a truck, get a billion dollars” stage of the EV revolution that saw Nikola rise to a higher market cap than Ford for a brief time. Robert Bollinger wasn’t able to capitalize quickly enough to get his trucks into production, though – and a late stage pivot to sell the brand to Mullen Automotive and launch a medium-duty commercial truck doesn’t appear to have been enough to save it.
Now, Automotive News is reporting on some of the more convoluted details of the Mullen purchase deal, with Robert (for ease of distinguishing the man from the brand) claiming that Mullen Automotive owes him more than $10 million for a loan he made to the company in 2024.
Just how Robert ended up giving Mullen Automotive $10 million to take his eponymous truck brand off his hands is probably one of those capitalistic mysteries that I’ll never understand, but Mullen’s response was perfectly clear: they didn’t even bother to show up to court.
Bollinger claims that at least two suppliers are also suing Mullen for unpaid debts. As such, the Honorable Terrence G. Berg has put the Bollinger brand into receivership, and its assets have been frozen in preparation for everything being liquidated. Worse, for Bollinger, the official court filings reveal a company that is really very much doing not awesome:
The testimony and evidence—which Defendant’s counsel conceded accurately reflected Defendant’s finances—showed that Defendant is in crisis. For months Defendant has owed more than twenty million dollars to suppliers, contractors, service providers, and owners of physical space. These debts are owed to parties who are critical for Defendant’s functioning. CEO Bryan Chambers testified that Defendant was locked out of its production facilities on May 5, 2025, and that the owner of the production facilities was seeking to permanently evict Defendant. The Court heard that Defendant had been prevented from accessing its critical manufacturing accounting system for a short time at the end of April 2025, before making a partial payment to restart services.
US DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
I’m not sure if you caught all that, but Bollinger’s CEO has been locked out the company’s facilities and getting evicted, the company is more than $20 million in debt, and that debt is owed to people Bollinger absolutely needs in order to keep going.
You can read the full court decision, which I’ve embedded here, below. Once you’ve taken it all in, feel free to rush into the comments to say you told me so, since I really thought hoped the Bollinger B1 had a shot. Silly me.
Bollinger v. Bollinger case
SOURCES: Automotive News, Justia, Yahoo!.
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Mammoth Solar, a 1.3 gigawatt (GW) solar farm in northern Indiana, is now powering into its biggest construction phase yet, cementing its place as one of the largest solar projects in the US.
The solar farm is set to increase Indiana’s solar capacity by more than 20% once it’s fully online. And with construction ramping up this month, developer Doral Renewables has given Bechtel Full Notice to Proceed on the design, engineering, and construction of three major phases of the project: Mammoth South, Mammoth Central I, and Mammoth Central II. Together, these phases will generate 900 MW of clean energy.
That’s enough electricity to power around 200,000 homes with clean energy, helping Indiana shift away from fossil fuels while boosting the local economy.
Construction is already underway, and over the next two years, Bechtel will install around 2 million solar panels, with about half of them made in the US. The company is also handling all engineering, procurement, and construction work, using its digital project management tools and autonomous tech to keep everything on track.
At the peak of the buildout, Mammoth Solar is expected to create over 1,200 jobs, with at least 15% of those set aside for apprenticeships.
Bechtel says its success will hinge on strong collaboration with local trades and vendors. The company is working closely with craft professionals and is committed to being a reliable community partner throughout construction.
Once the solar farm is complete in 2027, Doral Renewables plans to roll out agrivoltaics across the site. That means livestock grazing and crop cultivation will happen right alongside energy production, giving farmers in the area a way to keep working their land while supporting clean energy development.
Read more: Solar adds more new capacity to the US grid in 2024 than any energy source in 20 years
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