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In this Holiday Special edition of EV Hour, Magnus asks what makes the "perfect EV for the holidays", and the answer might be the Audi A6 Avant e-tron.
"This is in many ways going to be a little bit of a different episode. I've already reviewed the Audi A6 Avant e-tron, and while revisits are a whole genre in its own right, this has a very particular focus because I've been using this over the Christmas and New Year period, and I pitched Audi a very specific idea. What makes for a good Christmas and New Year's car? But essentially you can just swap those holidays out with any period where you'll be using it more pragmatically than you otherwise would. I haven't used this as a briefcase to take me to and from work. I've used it with my kids, transporting a lot of goods, long distances, gifts, fireworks, everything really, as we have been spending time with friends and family during the holidays. And it has opened up my perspective a little bit. I'm actually filming this on the very final day that I have the Audi A6 Avant e-tron, and I have changed my mind. I liked it when I reviewed it, moderately so, and now though I feel pretty confident saying that this is going to be a fantastically usable and infinitely reliable workhorse for the family, if you can afford it. So for this video we will be leaving in the shops with the children's booster seats. It is a little bit crusty inside with all the mud from boots and toys and whatever, but I think that is in the spirit of the video. So I hope you enjoy."
"Welcome.
We've already gone over the specifics before, but it's still important.
The 100 kilowatt battery can be charged through up to 800 volts for a combined effect of 270 kilowatts, meaning a range of 695 kilometers and a charge time from 10 to 80 percent in 21 minutes."
"It's a deeply functional package. If there's one thing that has changed since I originally reviewed the A6 Avant e-tron from Audi, it is that increased perspective comes quite naturally when the loan period or just your experience with something is extended. For instance, take the cabin. I have, both in my Q6 review and actually the very review of this car previously, had a go at Audi for a bit of a conservative outline when it comes to the design of their cabins. But now that I have used it over an extended period of time, I believe something like a little over two weeks, I've come to truly respect it in a different way than I thought possible. So for one, all of these buttons here, for instance, the buttons here on the steering wheel and here and over here, they're very annoying to look at. I still find them to be just a tad more old school than I possibly would have liked. But there is a big caveat to that and I know what you're going to say. If you know what the buttons do individually and you know where they are, it's a much more ergonomic and pleasant use case scenario once you have a feel around the cabin and you need something very specific to happen. So for instance, fog lights. There were fog several times over the course of my loan period and I know immediately where to find that."
"The little stalk here, let me show you, that I have described previously, it is actually down here.
That little stalk there controls the entirety of the cruise control. So it's up and down to increase or decrease the speed, put limiter on it, distance measurements to the car in front.
It's all incredibly ergonomic and it works very well. Combine that with lovely material usage and some, again, not striking but truly pragmatic design choices and what you end up with is actually something that works a lot better than I thought initially. I'm not saying I was wrong, I'm just saying that in order for me to get a proper picture of what it feels to live with a car every day, maybe that week's worth that a lot of car manufacturers go with, maybe that just isn't enough. Do you know what I mean?
The S-Line Pro version has OLED taillights, the passenger screen is standard, and plenty of other goodies. And then there's that big boot, which is obviously standard for all versions of this model."
"That has come in handy on plenty of occasions during this busy holiday period and has me convinced that an EV estate is the way to go for families like mine.
It's been cold for the last couple of days and we're driving pretty far away for Christmas, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to need the full 502 litre boot that the A6 Avant e-tron is going to give me. I'll give you a full update when it's all packed. And yeah, it is cold, it is cold. But even so, I am going to get around, let's see, 483 kilometres. That's WLTP, but still, that should take into account some of the weather conditions. I find that to be much more than reasonable. So I think I'll show you some footage after we're done. But in conclusion, big boot, big boot station cars with decent range is, I think, a type of car which suits the EV category quite well because you get the benefits, but you also still get the cabin space and, more importantly, the boot space that maybe SUVs or particularly crossovers simply won't give you."
"The A6 Avant e-tron has gone from good to an absolute great in my book. Combining effective range, fantastic build quality, and reliable fast charging with a spaciousness one of those crossovers really can't compete on. It makes it rather special.
It has been an interesting couple of weeks because with this, the A6 Avant, I've been able to do something which I haven't really done before in the EV hour series, which is to let the car properly settle in to a daily routine, and actually an even more interesting routine since this was Christmas and New Year's. During this period, it has served so reliably and so passionately that I do think that I get Audis more now. They might not be as flashy or as exciting as some of its immediate rivals, but the very unique mix of, well, oozing luxury, having those looks, by the way, a lot of people have given me glances in this thing way more than I would have thought, and also just being there for you. The reliable butler that always turns up and does what you ask of it, regardless of what that task is, and I think regardless of what that task is, that's quite unique. The big boot, those looks, that cabin, it all starts to come together in a way that I didn't think they would initially. So it's a good mark for spending a little more time doing these reviews. I don't know if that's possible, but still, I hope this has been able to tell you something unique about the idea of reviewing cars and what that means. See you on the next one."
