Hydrogen-powered Audi Q6 h-tron Concept heading for Detroit

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A hybrid-powered version of the Audi Q6 e-tron concept – the Audi Q6 h-tron – looks to be heading for a debut at the 2016 Detroit Motor Show.

The Frankfurt Motor Show in September saw Audi reveal a thinly disguised concept for a new electric Q6 SUV, and now it looks like they’re taking that a step further with a new hydrogen-powered version at the 2016 Detroit Motor Show next month – the Audi Q6 h-tron Concept – according to Auto Bild.

Audi has already demonstrated their intentions with hydrogen with the A7 Sportback h-tron we saw last year, and it makes perfect sense for Audi to travel the hydrogen route with their Tesla-challenging Q6 too.

Whether Audi are planning to use a more advanced version of the fuel stack in the A7 Concept or not we’re unsure, but that setup saw the hydrogen fuel stack sitting under the bonnet – where a normal ICE engine would be – with a plastic exhaust to get rid of the waste water produced, as well as a plug-in hybrid function which also recovers energy from the car.

That all endowed the h-tron with around 400lb/ft of torque and a 0-62mph of around eight seconds. Not brilliant performance, but the instant torque of the electric motors would make it feel much quicker than that off the mark.

But it’s a long way off the mark of the figures the Q6 e-tron promises, where the electric motors offer a very impressive 429bhp and a range of over 300 miles.

The Q6 e-tron is expected to arrive as a production model in a couple of years, and if Auto Bild’s tip that the Q6 h-tron is going to be revealed at Detroit turns out to be right, we could see Audi offering both electric and hydrogen powered versions of the Q6 as soon as it hits showrooms.