2025 Audi Q6 E-TRON

Sudden complete loss of propulsion while driving, with no opportunity to safely leave the travel lane; failure repeated again seven miles later after vehicle restart. Once propulsion is lost the driver has 1 to 2 seconds before multiple loud banging noises and the vehicle shuddering to an immediate stop without the driver using the brake pedal. The warning on the dash was "High Voltage Electrical System Fault" all in red.

On XXX, I was driving my Audi Q6 e-tron southbound on [XXX] in the HOV lane at highway speed with my family inside. Without warning, the vehicle suffered a complete power failure, dropping instantly to zero acceleration.Because I had no propulsion, I was forced to coast the unpowered vehicle across three lanes of active traffic to reach the right shoulder. Trailing traffic approaching quickly from behind narrowly avoided rear-ending us, and the vehicle side-slipped multiple times during the coast. It is a miracle my family survived the maneuver.Once I managed to get the car stopped on the shoulder, the vehicle exhibited erratic and dangerous electronic behavior. The car remained running and flatly refused to shut off despite my attempts. Furthermore, for some completely unknown reason, the steering wheel would not stop moving and shaking back and forth (right and left) entirely on its own while the vehicle was stationary.The California Highway Patrol (CHP) arrived to secure the scene. I used the vehicle's emergency contact button to contact Audi. While waiting, I called Calabasas Audi, where the car was being towed, and spoke to an employee named Ark. Ark stated he had never heard of this happening (the car not shutting off and the steering wheel shaking). He instructed me to push the door lock/unlock button to see if it would reset the system, but this did nothing. The vehicle was completely disabled and unsafe to operate. This severe defect put my family's lives at risk, and I have zero trust in this vehicle. I request an immediate safety investigation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On May 6, 2026, while operating the vehicle on a neighborhood street, the vehicle experienced a sudden, violent, and dangerous failure. After accelerating away from a stop sign, the vehicle was traveling at approximately 20-25 mph when, simultaneous with a warning message, it came to an immediate and abrupt stop. A number of error messages appeared in rapid succession on the vehicle’s MMI. Those messages referenced, among other things, drive battery errors, a major electrical system failure, and drivetrain issues. After the abrupt stop, the driver, attempted to restart the vehicle. Following one failed attempt, the vehicle restarted; however, after traveling approximately 30 feet, the vehicle again came to an abrupt, violent, and sudden stop. After several additional failed attempts to restart the vehicle, the driver allowed the vehicle to sit idle for approximately five minutes. The driver was then able to restart the vehicle and drive it, very cautiously and slowly, approximately two miles to a safe location. Once in a safe location, driver contacted the dealer who confirmed that the vehicle was unsafe to operate. The vehicle was towed to the dealership. On May 7, 2026, the dealer informed us that they had found “several different faults stored in the vehicle but those faults all basically contradict each other.” The dealer further informed us that they would need to contact Audi in Germany for guidance on how to proceed with diagnosis and repair. On May 22, 2026, the dealer informed us that "(w)e do need to drop the battery. There is a module in one of the battery cells that we are going to replace and also the module that controls the battery as well".

During a routine start up of the vehicle, I received countless errors and warnings that caused the vehicle to be determined unsafe to operate. Drive system, Air Suspension, Loose wheel warning, Lane change warning, blind spot indicator malfunctions. There is an exhaustive list of errors that were received, over 10 different malfunctions with one stating to drive slow at a max rate of 35mph. This has happen on multiple occasions in which the braking system does not operate properly and caused more force from the drive to stop the vehicle. Causes the suspension to not operate properly and making the vehicle less stable to operate. The vehicle was towed into my local Audi dealer where they state a "software update is required" and after 10 days it has not been resolved.

While driving on the freeway in the carpool lane, our Audi Q6 malfunctioned and lost power. There were numerous malfunction lights all at once. No other warning that the car was about to lose power. I was forced to coast across lanes avoiding traffic to the side of the road. Steering wheel was also violently shaking. The car has been out of service at the dealer for 58 days as of today. The manufacturer and dealer have both spent time analyzing the car and replaced the 12 volt battery and some control modules. Here is the text message I received from the service advisor at the dealer: “the following are the latest notes from the technician and techline audi :The control module for engine and suspension control is the module that has the static low voltage faults. Tech line thinks this control module staying awake is what’s killing the 12 volt battery. A faulty or discharged 12 volt can cause several problems in an electric vehicle” My concern is that there is no advance warning that the control module or suspension control is draining the battery and there is no advance warning that the 12 volt battery is going to die or is discharged. Audi has not been able to provide reassurance or confirmation that we will know in advance of this issue happening again. We were fortunate to be able to get out of traffic and to the shoulder, but it was a dangerous situation for me and my family to be in. With no advance warning, it seems a good possibility this can happen again.