Cool Stuff

Audi Just Built A G-Wagon Crushing Electric Off-Roader

When you think off-road SUVs, a few names naturally come to mind. The Jeep Wrangler and its main rival, the Ford Bronco, likely spring to mind. Maybe some more niche models like Scout, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, or even the Suzuki Samurai follow those. Audi wants to join those ranks with the Q6 E-Tron Offroad Concept.

To make it, Audo started with the standard Q6 E-tron Sportback and cranked the suspension up by 6.3 inches and pushed the tires out 9.8 inches to give the electric crossover loads of ground clearance and far more stability while off-roading.

This isn't a cheap lift, either. Audi has given the Q6 E-Tron Offroad portal axles — a feature reserved for the most extreme off-road vehicles. The technology adds a gearbox inside the wheel so that the axle is higher than the centre of the wheel. It's a way to add more clearance for the driveshafts and suspension arms, not just the body. It's also very expensive.

However, adding portal axles helps the Q6 drive up a 100 percent grade. That's 45 degrees, a hill you probably couldn't walk or crawl up without help.

The gears in the axle multiply the torque from the electric motors, too. Audi says torque at the wheels hits a maximum of 9,883 lb-ft of torque when the 10-second boost mode is engaged. For a motor output comparison, that's like boosting the Q6 E-Tron's standard 631 lb-ft of torque to 934 lb-ft. It's serious business.

And it doesn't end there. The concept vehicle is equipped with Venom Terra Hunter mud terrain tires with studs to make sure the Q6 E-Tron Offroad can go almost anywhere in the winter. There's a new nose with a different grille that drops Audi's usual "Singleframe" look for something more rugged. To top it all off, there are the big silver tow hooks in the centre of the new grille.

Fitting massive tires means big fender flares. The plastic add-ons blend into the bodywork if you're looking at the Q6 E-Tron Offroad from the side, but they stick out like the box flares on an original 1980 Sport Quattro rally car at any other angle. Wrapping up the off-road changes, there's a big cargo basket on the roof.

The only question is why? This isn't an easy question to answer given how much time Audi spent developing this concept. For examples, the automaker said it designed a whole new type of portal axle system to fit on this model and its torque multiplication is double that of existing designs.

Whatever Audi has planned for the Q6 E-Tron Offroad concept, it unveiled the beast at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup weekend in Kitzbühel, Austria. On February 1, it will go to the F.A.T. Ice Race, an annual ice racing event in Austria that started in 1952.