Audi A6 Sportback e-tron vs Volvo ES90

The Audi A6 Sportback e-tron costs £2,340 more than the Volvo ES90. For that premium it adds 54 miles more WLTP range, 78 litres more boot space and 35 kW more power. The Volvo ES90 is not just cheaper - it also offers 80 kW faster peak rapid charging. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron comes out ahead overall.

The Volvo ES90 is £2,340 cheaper to buy. The Audi A6 Sportback e-tron is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £176 for the Volvo ES90, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Volvo ES90 comes out roughly £2,180 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 386 miles for the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron and 286 miles for the Volvo ES90 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Audi A6 Sportback e-tron goes roughly 99 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 21-22 minutes.

The Audi A6 Sportback e-tron is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 60 mm narrower than the Volvo ES90. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 518 mm of total clearance for the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron and about 458 mm of total clearance for the Volvo ES90. The Volvo ES90 also turns in a 0.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron and 84% for the Volvo ES90. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.