At the beginning of November 2021, I brought you spy shots of a mysterious Audi EV prototype that could have been the Q6 E-Tron or a special, China-only model that would slots somewhere between the Q6 and Q4 E-Tron. As it turns out, it was the China-only Q5 E-Tron, and now it has been fully revealed. As you’d expect it’s based largely on the Audi Concept Shanghai that was reveled back in April 2021, a car that led us to believe that China would be getting something like a fancier ID.6 with an Audi badge.

The car you see here is the Q5 E-Tron and it is, in fact, a Volkswagen ID.6 in Audi clothing. It certainly does look like a bigger version of the Q4 E-Tron, but for a three-row model it doesn’t look bad, so that’s definitely a good thing. This is the second Audi model that is being developed by VW-SAIC exclusively for China, with the first model being the Audi A7L sedan. That said, the Q5 E-Tron is actually more of an ID.6 X as the ID.6 Crozz is actually sold by another joint venture with FAW.

As if you didn’t need more evidence that this is a rebadged VW, the SUV has a total length of 4,876 mm or 192 inches – the exact same length as the ID.6 X. It also has the same 2,965 mm (116.7 inch) wheelbase. As a three-row SUV, the Q5 E-Tron actually won’t be that crowed as the images here tell a story of a six-seat layout with captain’s chairs in the second row – something that also undoubtedly helps with third-row ingress and egress. The models in these pictures are of the 40 and 50 models in white and red, with the 40 model offering rear-wheel drive and the 50 model coming with all-wheel drive.

The 40 model features an 83.4-kWh battery and a single motor on the rear axle. Total system output for this trim level is 201 horsepower. The 50 model comes with a second motor on the front axle, bringing total system output up to 302 ponies but features the same battery so don’t expect the same type of range for the higher model. Eventually, Audi will release a 35 model, with RWD, 177 horsepower, and a much smaller 55-kWh battery.

The Q5 E-Tron is destined to remain a China-only affair as the rest of the world, namely Europe and North America will get the Audi Q6 E-Tron, which is a very good thing. See the Q5 E-Tron rides on VW’s MEB platform while the Q6 that we’ll get in the States will be Audi’s first EV on the PPE platform that was developed in collaboration with Porsche and will also be found under the next-gen Macan EV.