The BMW i5 Touring is competing in a rarified segment considering there are only a handful of electric wagons. Audi wants a piece of the action with the new A6 Avant E-Tron, which spawns a high-performance S6 from day one. The latter goes up against the i5 M60 Touring, an M Performance version of Bavaria’s luxury electric wagon.

In S6 guise, the performance estate from Ingolstadt delivers 496 horsepower to the Quattro all-wheel-drive system. Using launch control unlocks the full 543 hp, enabling a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) run in 3.9 seconds. Audi quotes a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h). That pair of electric motors draws its juice from a 94.9-kWh battery that Audi installs in the standard A6 Avant E-Tron as well.

The company with the Four Rings logo claims a fully charged battery lasts for over 398 miles (640 kilometers) of range. Should you be in a hurry to replenish the battery, the electric A6/S6 Avant E-Tron supports 270-kW DC charging as standard. It’ll take 21 minutes to go from 10% to 80%. If you can’t wait this long, 10 minutes puts enough energy back into the battery for 193 miles (310 kilometers). That’s provided you have access to a station that supports the full charging power.

The Avant joins an equally stylish Sportback, a five-door liftback that goes up against the BMW i5 sedan. These new Audi EVs come with a controversial split headlight design and a triple-screen setup inside. While the Sportback has a drag coefficient of just 0.21 – a record for an Audi production car – the Avant is rated at 0.24. These figures were achieved after installing side cameras and aero-tweaked wheels.

Of the two body styles, only the Sportback is coming to the United States. However, those side mirrors we mentioned won’t be legal here, nor will the adaptive matrix LED headlights installed on the European model. Audi will begin to accept orders in Germany in September, with the US to follow at a later date.

In its home market Deutschland, the S6 Avant E-Tron costs €101,150 whereas the regular A6 electric wagon begins at €77,250.

Source: Audi