A tale of two Audis: the A5 saloon goes up against the A6 Avant e-tron

The political football that is the EV switchover has been booted up and down the pitch more times than we care to remember, especially in the UK. The knock-on effect on the car market is one of confusion and flip-flopping, as models once destined for pure electric drivetrains are quietly revised to take old school ICE power and other manufacturers get long stays of execution for models and engines that would otherwise be on their way out.

Partly this is due to legislative confusion, but consumer behaviour has also played a part. Most importantly, one effects the other, with the end result being that volume manufacturers offer a more diverse and esoteric line-up of different and often conflicting model types than ever before.

Consider Audi. We’ve recently sampled the petrol-powered A5 alongside the A6 e-tron. Don’t even get us started on Audi’s current nomenclative nonsense, but for the purposes of this piece, the A5 and A6 are closely related in scale and purpose, with the A5 just a smidge smaller – confusingly, this model used to be known as the A4. A5s are available as a saloon and Avant (estate), in petrol, diesel or hybrid configuration.

The newer A6 comes in saloon and Avant variants with petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid options, whereas the pure EV, the A6 e-tron, is available as an Avant and a ‘Sportback’, essentially a sleeker saloon with a larger tailgate. All credit to Audi’s product planners for the mental juggling act they perform to maintain the 57 variants across 14 different model lines in the UK market alone.

So what’s it to be, ICE or EV? From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the A6 Avant e-tron wins this one. The design language is just a little bit evolved and dynamic, especially in the handsome long-roofed Avant variant. The front end still feels transitional, with slimmer lights that have evolved from the A5's more classically Audi 'face' yet don’t feel fully resolved. Much has been made of the radical approach taken by the 2025 Audi Concept C, and how that might signal a new design aesthetic going forwards.

Both cars share the wide light bar at the rear, first seen on the e-tron GT (still the best-looking modern Audi, in our opinion), but the A6 e-tron adds unwelcome touches like the illuminated four-ring logo on the boot – not very subtle. Inside, the differences are even harder to distinguish, with a strikingly similar layout of screens and HVAC controls.

Dig a little deeper and the A5 comes up somewhat short, with bells and whistles kept to a bare minimum. In fact, this is just about the most vanilla ‘premium’ car you can buy, without even electric seats on the test model. Audi’s on-screen graphics are excellent in both models, if not quite the best in class (there’s stiff competition these days), and the trend towards swooping, curved and floating screen designs clashes with the sober graphical approach.

In addition, anyone looking to get into an A5 or A6 will find fresh updates to the HMI system, launched last month. These include better phone integration and more display options, along with some tweaking of the e-tron’s regenerative braking.

Thus far, the A5 looks very much like an Audi for EV refuseniks. We haven’t been able to compare like for like – and the A5 we drove was very much lower in the pecking order than the A6 Avant e-tron with S line bodykit and performance upgrades. Both have the firmness of ride and directness of steering that is the Audi trademark, yet the EV naturally has the acceleration to match, while the A5 feels a little lacklustre in its standard, 150PS TFSI trim.

The A5’s 4-cylinder engine delivers nearly 42mpg on average, giving a range of 4-500 miles if driven prudently. The e-tron can’t compete, although the stated range of 437 miles is impressive and very much next-gen performance for an EV (despite being less in real world conditions).

If not quite chalk and cheese, these two Audis certainly highlight the current level of difference between ICE and EV and the efforts being made to elevate the latter, often at the expense of the former. For a more accurate comparison, consider that the standard ICE A6 Avant starts at £54,735, meaning that going all-in on electric still requires a hefty premium. However, in terms of design, desirability and all-round ability, we reckon the e-tron has the edge.

A6 Avant e-tron performance, from £80,455, Audi A5 saloon, from £43,410, Audi.co.uk, A6 Avant e-tron performance, from £65,115, Audi.co.uk