The 2026 Audi RS6 won’t ditch its V8 engine but it will gain a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) system and be sold alongside the electric RS6 e-tron, marking the first time the Audi Sport division has offered both electric and combustion-powered RS6s.
According to Autocar, the next RS6 is expected in European showrooms in 2026 with Australia following shortly after, and Audi has been testing a V8 PHEV powertrain – much like that employed by the rival BMW M5.
The move comes after a previous decision to make the next RS6 full-electric only was reversed after slower than anticipated sales for electric vehicles (EVs) saw the company ditch plans to sell only EVs by 2033.
The strategic rethink also saw Audi confirm it would develop a new line of internal combustion engines to play a role in expanding its lineup of hybrid vehicles.
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Instead of ditching the electric RS6 e-tron in favour of a hybrid version, however, Audi will offer customers both.
The 2026 RS6 e-tron, like the A6 e-tron it’s derived from, will sit on the Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE) underpinnings, with the 2026 RS6 hybrid using the Premium Platform Combustion (PPC) architecture like the new-generation Audi A6 it’s based on.
The ability to produce both is helped by other brands within the Volkswagen Group, including Porsche, continuing to offer internal-combustion-engine hybrids alongside EVs, splitting development costs across more models.
While the RS6 is a rival to the BMW i5 M60 and BMW M5 PHEV, given its similar size and price, the move more closely resembles the decision by BMW’s M division to introduce both EV and hybrid models of the next BMW M3 on different platforms.
Further hedging its bets, Audi will offer the RS6 in sedan and wagon body styles – reintroducing the sedan for the first time since 2010 – according to Autocar.
The next RS6 is set to be the most powerful RS6 yet with the hybrid version expected to use a further developed version of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 – used by Porsche and Bentley – which makes 453kW/850Nm in the current RS6.
Teamed with plug-in hybrid tech including an electric motor integrated into the transmission and a lithium-ion battery, power will jump to as much as 575kW/100Nm – the output the powertrain makes in the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.
This endows the Panamera with a 2.9-second 0-100km/h time and 325km/h top speed.
Those sorts of figures, if achieved in the RS6, would outmuscle the latest G90 BMW M5’s performance, which sees 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds and a 305km/h top speed from its 727kW V8 PHEV.
The RS6 e-tron is expected to build on the current Audi S6 e-tron – due in Australia this year with a 405kW/856Nm dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain – by some margin and will be offered with the same 94.8kWh battery as the standard A6 e-tron.
Audi’s current high-performance EV is the RS e-tron GT performance, which produces 680kW and does the 0-100km/h dash in 2.5 seconds. A source told Autocar, however, that the RS6 e-tron is unlikely to be as powerful though there will be a “solid increase” over the S6 e-tron.
Both petrol-hybrid and EV RS6s will look the part, with pumped-up body work, larger front air intakes as well as large alloy wheels housing high-performance brakes.
More details are expected ahead of the 2026 Audi RS6’s official unveiling, expected sometime later this year.
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