Audi has been experimenting with the electric-car market for a few years and officially unveiled plans for the A1 e-tron and an electric-powered A2 recently. It does not look like either one is going to happen any time soon, according to a report from Car.
The A2 electric was slated to be released in Europe, where high-efficiency diesel and gasoline engines that get upwards of 60 mpg reign supreme. These markets are tough enough to crowbar in an electric model, but add in the fact that the A2 was expected to carry a €40,000 ($50,000) price tag, and you get a model that was bound to fail in the European marketplace. Combine that price point with the fact that the Nissan Leaf, with its far lower €25,990 ($32,500) price tag, only saw 3,000 units leave showroom floors in 2011, and Audi wisely saw this as a fruitless journey.
The entire A2 line will likely continue as expected, sans the electric model. This leaves a gasoline and diesel model as the only drivetrain options.
The A1 e-tron reportedly is meeting a similar fate, but for different reasons. The A1 e-tron is being axed due to extravagantly high production costs. This car was planned to be similar to the Chevy Volt, as it was going to have a gasoline engine to extend the range of its electric motor by charging the batteries via a Wankel (rotary) engine.
Though this is a tragic way to abruptly cease the development phase for an electric lineup, we cannot blame Audi for its choice. Electric cars just are not selling well in the European markets and having one priced nearly double its closest competitor and another one with climbing production costs just isn’t smart business.
Audi’s alpha-numerical line-up for its ’A family’ is giving birth to a new model in a few weeks at the Frankfurt Motor Show. At this rate, the German automaker will only need to come out with an A9 and an A10 to complete numbers 1-10. But that’s neither here nor there because the first order of business is the newest member of the family, the A2 Concept.
As a pure electric concept study, the reborn Audi A2 leaves behind its previous incarnation as a small MPV and is turned into a five-door hatchback - one that’s actually smaller than the A1. Full details behind the A2 Concept will be released at the Frankfurt Motor Show but from the information we have, it doesn’t appear that the A2 Concept will be made entirely out of aluminum, which was one of the main characteristics of the car’s old model.
A few other things we found out about the A2 Concept is that it will come with a flat interior floorboard, four individual seats, a center console attached to the driver’s seat, and a rear console that extends forward between the two rear seats. The concept will also come with what appears to be a "powerful electric drive system for agile performance and long range."
That last part comes from Audi themselves so until we know more about the car, we’re going to have to take their word for it. Not that the wait should be long since Frankfurt is just around the corner.
UPDATE 01/02/13: Any hope we had of seeing a production version of the Audi A2 Concept has been sniffed out after Audi announced the cancellation of the model in light of slowing global interest in electric vehicles. That’s all she wrote, fellas. Too bad, too, because we actually were excited to see how the production model of the A2 Concept would have turned out.
According to Autocar, the forthcoming Audi A2 will be prepared as an all-electric vehicle when it hits the streets in the next few years.
The second incarnation of the Audi A2 will be starkly different from its predecessor, which bombed in sales because of the expensive spaceframe construction that it came with. This time around, Audi is being more prudent and will instead use a steel monocoque for the A2, similar to what is being used for the A1, the company’s new premium hatchback.
Likewise, the report that the A2 will solely be an electric car is indicative of what Audi chairman Rupert Stadler mentioned as one of the company’s main priorities, that being the company’s stance in pushing for electric vehicles. With the new all-electric A2 already in the oven, it wouldn’t surprise us the least bit if the car is pegged as the competitor for the BMW Megacity, which is scheduled to hit dealerships in 2013.
UPDATE 06/05/2012: Audi has been experimenting with the electric-car market for a few years and officially unveiled plans for the A1 e-tron and an electric-powered A2 recently. It does not look like either one is going to happen any time soon, according to a report from Car.
The entire A2 line will likely continue as expected, sans the electric model. This leaves a gasoline and diesel model as the only drivetrain options.
The Audi A1 was only unveiled about a week ago, but Audi is already tinkering on the possibility of bringing the Audi A2 back after a five-year sabbatical.
According to Rupert Stadler, Audi’s Chief Executive Officer, the plausibility of bringing back the A2 was re-opened after the company felt that there was an opportunity to insert another model between the Audi A3 and the aforementioned A1.
Reports have also indicated that the future A2 model could potentially use the same platform as the A1, albeit with a different styling mold and powertrain options. The next-generation A2 is also being touted to have a 2014 release date, giving the company ample time to determine the entire business plan on producing a new A2.
Audi has yet to reveal further details on this matter, opting to take the “keep-it-under-wraps-until-everything-is-certain” approach. But if they do push through with a new A2, here’s to hoping that it doesn’t meet a similar fate as its predecessor, which was a complete flop, selling only an 176,377 units during its time in the sun from 1999 to 2005.
According to reports, the German automotive conglomerate Volkswagen AG is reshaping the lineup of four ringed luxury vehicles that it is planning to offer in the U.S. in a more economical way. While Audi has no plans of producing a diminutive A1 mini car or a drop top A3, they are planning a few other versions of the compact hatchback. These variants include everything from a clean diesel burning five door to a four door sedan, much like an upscale VW Jetta, and even a compact crossover called the Q3. The German automaker is also considering a zero emissions A2 BEV. An all electric A2 city car would definitely soften up the U.S. market’s opinion about a possible e-Tron super car further on down the road.
On a more global note, the German automaker has also canceled plans to build an all out racecar spec motor sports version of their current entry level sedan, the RS4. However Audi did tell us that their RennSport division is focusing on the B segment cars, so that only leaves the RS5 to get our high performance hopes up, at least until the next round of cutbacks. However it would have been unlikely for the German automaker to expand the breadth of their RS lineup for next year with the TT-RS scheduled for delivery and an RS3 in the works. Although we here in the U.S. will most likely never see the latter, it is rare that Audi build more than one RS variant per model year. Either way it looks like all of Audi’s in house high performance tuner cars will keep with a sleek two door theme.
Audi wasn’t very successful with the last A2. It’s tall and round look made this Europe-only supermini the ugly duckling of the Audi family (and this was even during the time Audi was getting mixed results with the introduction of the trapezoidal grille on its sedans.) The car was finally killed off in 2005 and few wept.
Audi wants another chance at the small car, but it also thinks its learned it lesson. Audi’s head of Research and Development Michael Dick told Autocar that the new car will “be recognisable as an A2 but very different from the old car.” Also the cost will be spread across the Volkswagen Group. “We will not make the same mistake as with the first A2 and do it all by ourselves,” said Dick.
Audi also plans to make an electric version of the car immediately available. This means it will take a little longer to develop than a conventional car. Although Volkswagen is getting ready to produce the Up, a small car with hybrid possibilities, Dick says Audi won’t utilize that platform. The A2 will be larger than the Up, and so the A2 will be based on “a group platform of the next generation”.
The largest question that arises from the A2’s rebirth is doesn’t the A1 already fill that space in the lineup? The answer lies in the car’s function. While both will occupy Europe’s popular supermini car category, the A1 will be sportier and compete with cars like BMW’s Mini, and the A2 will fill a more functional kind of role same as a Mercedes A-Class.
Just like the first A2, don’t expect this one to reach much farther than Europe.
