Mercedes-Benz Eqe53 vs Audi Q6 E-Tron

What's the difference?

The EQE is more than an important car for Mercedes. Not only is it the German titan’s latest electric offering, on all-new underpinnings, but it represents the very future of its passenger car range.

It adopts a completely new shape and design language, but it also puts its fastest foot forward, launching with the 53 AMG variant first in Australia, by the end of 2022.

We travelled to Europe to sample it for the first time ahead of its Australian arrival to find out what the future of Mercedes feels like, but also how its go-fast AMG division has managed to leave its mark on an electric car.

From a few paces back, the Q6 e-tron is easy to mistake for just another Audi.

After all, Audi, perhaps above all its contemporaries, has established such a consistent look and feel for its entire range.

But this is no regular Audi. The brand tells us the Q6 e-tron is the most significant new vehicle it has launched in a decade.

Underneath its familiar visage, Audi is so excited about the Q6 e-tron because it brings with it a ground-up new-vehicle platform, which brings with it some forward leaps when it comes to technology.

But does being new actually make the Q6 e-tron a good car? We went to its Australian media launch to find out.