If the mantra of Audi drivers everywhere is “stay in the left lane, proceed quickly, and stay away from the idiots,” the all-new 2025 A6 Sportback e-tron delivers in spades — a sizeable, all-electric machine for comfortably sporty travels.

This was my first time in one of Audi’s fully-electrified models and, judging from the mix of enhanced battery range, the modern but mostly manageable technology and the close approximation to gasoline-powered driving, it’s a decent experience.

Maybe the strongest affirmation I got was a chat with the driver of a Tesla Model 3 at the charging station in Bailey, who was impressed by this not-small, hatchbacked family machine. Its slipstreamy looks and the tasteful mix inside of leather, real wood and an oversized and curved 26-inch-plus MMI cockpit display (as well as a 10.9-inch auxiliary display on the passenger side) are all premium touches. True to EV form, there’s an ultra-gigantic, full-cabin sunroof, which can be electronically dimmed in strips, a feature I’d only ever seen once before.

Compared to the Tesla, which by comparison very much looked like an empty econobox on the inside, highlighted only by its massive screen, the A6 e-tron is luxurious, tastefully appointed vehicle that’s not painfully expensive, at least in its simplest form.

The 375-hp, rear-wheel-drive version of the A6 I drove starts at about $66,000, minus any residual Colorado EV credits you can grab before year’s end, and tops out at $72,200 for a Prestige model; there are also $68,000-$74,000 Quattro AWD versions with 456-hp and a higher-performance, 543-hp S6 model, priced between $78,700 and $84,600.

The entire family does share a 100 kilowatt-hour battery system and in my RWD version, that means an impressive-sounding 392-mile total range, according to the EPA. In reality, the A6 e-tron’s range during purposeful uphill driving (I did the former Mt. Evans access route to Idaho Springs to bypass Floyd Hill hell, then Loveland Pass as well) fluctuates in a way I’ve only seen Volvos do — namely, a loss of up to 200 miles of indicted range.

Drive it more steadily as I did on U.S. Highway 285 on the way home, and it hardly uses any battery range at all; my advice would be to almost entirely ignore the range number and rely on battery percentage instead.

With power to burn, the RWD A6 will certainly fly along (0-60 mph takes just over 5 seconds, with top speed limited to 130 mph). The driving character is best described as being SUV sized and perhaps a little vague – it’s 194 inches overall, riding on 19-inch platinum-finished wheels in my test vehicle — though my pre-snow cornering was still concise and reasonably engaged.

You’ll either appreciate the A6’s EV-era, ultra-aerodynamic design, or not; my neighbor asked me if the overly dimpled grille was supposed to look that way (yes, it is), with slits of LED running lamps helping to break up a very black and glossy fascia. From the side, it’s also got a beltline as thick as those new Chevy EV trucks as they too try to hide the battery. Front and rear LED lighting is also customizable.

The A6’s Sportback design means limited rear visibility over the rear headrests but delivers an impressive 25.9 cubic feet of cargo space, or nearly 40 cubic feet if you drop the rear seats. Rear seating is also ample, with floor space aplenty.

Technology is pronounced and quite immersive, but held together more successfully than it did on a recent drive in the equally new Q5 (full review, later). You can micromanage dozens and dozens of predictive safety settings – the lane-keep is pretty grabby – with virtual reality guidance popping up on the head-up display. (Those green crosses, I learned, are intersections, not dispensaries.)

If you’d like to attempt to recoup your electric losses, there are four recuperation modes, though I was unable to figure out how to activate the draggiest, one-pedal-driving-styled mode, despite a week of trying. Using the middleweight mode from A-Basin to Keystone, however, not a lot of recharging was evident. A full-voltage charging setup promises to boost you from 10 to 80 percent in 20-something minutes, when you find one. 

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.