Audi is calling its stylish new off-road electric concept car a “reinterpretation of Quattro” that “showcases the potential of the PPE platform,” but there’s a much simpler reason this electric Q6 E-Tron concept is cool: It has portal axles. The all-black-everything Q6 E-Tron Offroad concept is lifted nearly 6.5 inches and styled out with in-house designed portal axles for more aggressive off-roadability. The 422-horsepower all-wheel drive EV is ready to blaze a trail, even on the snow and ice of this weekend’s F.A.T. Ice Race. All electric crossovers should be given this kind of hill-climbing capability.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner was treated to the first test drive of the completed concept, and had this to say about it: “The Q6 e-tron offroad concept is a reinterpretation of quattro. The model shows the potential that our platform for all electric vehicles already has today. This vehicle can claim new ground. We look forward to seeing our customers’ reactions to this highly emotive car.”
Audi claims it has increased the efficiency of portal axles with its newly-developed setup. Normally portal axles will increase wheel torque by 20 to 30 percent, but Audi says this new design is capable of increasing wheel torque by an impressive 50 percent. As a result, when the electric motors are operating at full power (available for a ten-second boost) this concept produces an incredible 9,883 lb-ft of wheel torque. As a result, Audi says the car can confidently climb a 45-degree uphill slope (a 100-percent grade).
Of course, there are some compromises to jacking a vehicle way up in the air. The electric Audi has reduced its top speed to a paltry 108 miles per hour, and it certainly isn’t capable of the standard Q6 E-Tron’s 310 miles of all-electric range. Audi doesn’t list a range for the jacked up crossover, but I would be surprised if it could hit even half that range from a full battery. But, in exchange, you get the most off-road-ready rock climber that Audi has ever built.
