Audi A6 Avant e-tron vs Polestar 4

The Audi A6 Avant e-tron costs £11,710 more than the Polestar 4. For that premium it adds 46 miles more WLTP range, 70 kW faster peak rapid charging and 80 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Audi A6 Avant e-tron comes out ahead overall.

The Polestar 4 is £11,710 cheaper to buy. The Audi A6 Avant e-tron is cheaper to charge, roughly £152 a year versus £192 for the Polestar 4, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Polestar 4 comes out roughly £11,510 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 364 miles for the Audi A6 Avant e-tron and 277 miles for the Polestar 4 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Audi A6 Avant e-tron goes roughly 88 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 21 minutes in the Audi A6 Avant e-tron and 30 in the Polestar 4, so the Audi A6 Avant e-tron loses less time at each stop. That makes the Audi A6 Avant e-tron the stronger long-distance car.

The Audi A6 Avant e-tron is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 121 mm narrower than the Polestar 4. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 513 mm of total clearance for the Audi A6 Avant e-tron and about 392 mm of total clearance for the Polestar 4. The Polestar 4 also turns in a 0.7 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 Avant e-tron and 84% for the Polestar 4. 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. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.