Yahoo Autos The Next Audi RS6 Will Reportedly Be a Plug-In Hybrid
Whether the goal is to show off a V-10 or to integrate a mild hybrid system into a 591-horsepower wagon, the RS6 has long served as a showcase car in the Audi lineup. According to a report from Australia's Wheels, the future of the RS6 line will be about showcasing electrification.
Audi R&D head Stephan Reil, Wheels says, sees hybridization as the brand's logical path to fully electric cars. "Of course this [hybridisation] is the way to go, in the next generation I can tell you it will have more hybridisation," Reil told Wheels. In the current C8-generation RS6 Avant, this is represented by a 48-volt mild hybrid system that does not assist the car's performance in its most aggressive modes. For the next generation, the next step would be more significant electrified assistance from a plug-in system. As Audi plans to stop developing new internal combustion engines in 2026, the C10 generation that would follow that would then make the step to electric power only.
Given the nature of Audi's lineup, the same changes would likely also apply to any successors to the RS7 and RS Q8. The current generations of both cars share their powertrains with the current RS6 Avant.
Back in 2019, Audi had hinted at a variant of the current RS6 Avant with more power from a hybrid system. While Mercedes has introduced something similar with its vexingly-named AMG GT 63 S E Performance, Audi has not yet shared any details on a Performance variant of the existing RS6. While Wheels notes in a separate report that two separate RS6 variants could still be on the way, an American representative of the company told The Drive that they had not heard about either variation.
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