2026 Audi RS6 e-tron will be a monster

Following the global debut of the all-new 2025 Audi A6 e-tron sedan and wagon, including the hot S6 e-tron, all eyes are looking forward to the inevitable and long-promised RS 6 e-tron which could well be the most formidable wagon ever produced.

Audi is yet to officially confirm an RS 6 e-tron but has long hinted at such a project – including that high-performance wagons (which the RS 6 undeniably the godfather of) very much have a future in the brand’s portfolio, even as it targets an electrified future.

carsales asked the brand’s global product manager, Thomas Atzmann, about when we could expect to see an electric RS 6 during the reveal of the S6 e-tron and was told to “stayed tuned”.

“Sorry, we can’t disclose any information on this,” he said.

“You can of course stay tuned on this but it will take a little time for an RS version.”

Q6 e-tron, A6 e-tron, Premium Platform Electric and Connected Car spokesperson Stefan Grillneder later hinted “…a superbly attractive vehicle with a Sportback body style” was in the pipeline and would follow the reveal of the Q6 e-tron Sportback in the southern spring.

At this early stage it’s unlikely to be an RS 6 e-tron, despite our covert spy photographers having already sighted working prototypes on the public road, and more likely to be an RS version of the Q6 e-tron.

Whatever this mystery model is, the S6 e-tron’s peak power output of 405kW suggests the RS version is going to be an absolute monster aimed squarely at decimating the latest plug-in hybrid BMW M5.

Using this figure and the peak power numbers of the current S6 and RS 6 as a basis, we expect the 2026 Audi RS 6 e-tron to develop upwards of 538kW in its finished form – and more than 1000Nm of torque.

Applying the current RS 6’s 33 per cent power advantage (over the lesser S6) to the box-fresh S6 e-tron gives us our projected kilowatt count and while no means gospel, we expect this formula to prove reasonably accurate seeing as the smaller RS 4 carries a 27 per cent power advantage over the S4.

Audi is well-positioned in the flagship Euro performance car war because the new BMW M5 is no faster than its ICE-only predecessor from 0-100km/h – despite adding electric motors via a PHEV powertrain and being significantly more powerful – due in large part to its lardy 2400kg kerb weight.

Odds are the RS 6 e-tron will weigh about the same when it comes to market and we wouldn’t be surprised if it pinched the RS e-tron GT’s two-speed transmission to ensure a circa-three-second 0-100km/h time and top speed on the right side of 250km/h.

“The answer is of course we can imagine that [a PPE-based RS 6 e-tron] very well because the design is already here,” A6 e-tron technical project manager Johannes Arneth told carsales back in 2021.

“And at the same time we’ve got very powerful drivetrains that we’ve developed already and I’m sure that for the very sporty customer we can provide an adequate offer.

“An RS 6 e-tron would be very exciting.”

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