SPY PICS: Closer look at 2026 Audi RS 6 electric super sedan

The 2026 Audi RS 6 has been spotted undergoing development testing in Europe again, and this time our spy photographer was able to get up close and personal with the upcoming electric super sedan.

Destined to go all-electric in its fourth generation, the new Audi RS 6 will be offered in both Avant (wagon) and, for the first time since the second-generation model (2008-2011), sedan body styles.

Rather than the current V8 model’s MLB Evo platform, the new RS 6 will be underpinned by the same dedicated-electric PPE architecture as the just-released Audi Q6 e-tron, which should bring a heap more power – upwards of 475kW – and better dynamics.

Very little about the wedge-shaped sedan has changed since we last saw it in spy shots, but a small portion of camouflage around the headlights and full-width tail-lights has been removed, showing off a new split front lighting arrangement and the obvious brake light strip.

Confirmation that this is the full-fat RS 6 – as opposed to the lesser S6 or a mainstream A6 variant – comes in the form of the huge cross-drilled brake rotors and multi-piston callipers, as well as a unique front bumper and intake designs, flared wheel-arches and sticky Pirelli P Zero tyres on big, lightweight wheels, plus a huge camouflaged rear diffuser and lip spoiler.

The expectation is for the standard A6 variants to launch next year ahead of the RS 6, which will likely follow some 12 months after, meaning we’ll probably see an RS version of the new Q6 e-tron SUV before the super sedan.

But the mechanical composition and performance capabilities of the SUV will give us a pretty good idea of what’s to come from the sedan and wagon, previous versions of which have been labelled supercar killers.

Competition for the new RS 6 will include the just-debuted – and now plug-in hybrid V9-powered – new BMW M5 and the upcoming Mercedes-AMG E 63 S, which is likewise tipped to adopt a PHEV powertrain, as well as other looming large EVs like the top-spec Polestar 5, Hyundai IONIQ 6 N, future Jaguars and the production-spec Genesis G80 EV Magma.

Expected features including a 100kWh battery pack, new-generation PPE motors and super-slippery drag coefficient will more then likely endow the first electric RS 6 with a cruising range of about 600km, judging by the bulkier but less powerful Q6 e-tron’s numbers.

As we’ve reported, Audi will eventually rename its entire model range, ditching the e-tron suffix and using even numerical names for EVs, and odd numbers for its combustion and/or hybrid models.

So the A7 badge will be applied to every large new combustion-powered Audi passenger model across the Sportback, Avant and sedan body styles, including the new A7 Allroad, and the A6 nomenclature will apply only to equivalent EVs including the S6 and RS 6.

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