Audi S6 Sportback e-tron vs Polestar 3

The Audi S6 Sportback e-tron costs £16,585 more than the Polestar 3. For that premium it adds 36 miles more WLTP range, 159 kW more power and a 3.6s quicker 0-62mph time. The Polestar 3 is not just cheaper - it also offers 40 kW faster peak rapid charging. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Audi S6 Sportback e-tron comes out ahead overall.

The Polestar 3 is £16,585 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Polestar 3 comes out roughly £16,465 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 342 miles for the Audi S6 Sportback e-tron and 257 miles for the Polestar 3 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Audi S6 Sportback e-tron goes roughly 85 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 21-22 minutes.

The Audi S6 Sportback e-tron is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 45 mm narrower than the Polestar 3. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 477 mm of total clearance for the Audi S6 Sportback e-tron and about 432 mm of total clearance for the Polestar 3. The Polestar 3 also turns in a 0.5 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 S6 Sportback e-tron and 84% for the Polestar 3. 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.