Audi is continuing its aggressive push into the electric car marketspace by bringing its “e-tron” moniker to yet another model: the A2. What’s that you say, there’s an Audi A2? Well, yes, when it was originally produced in the early 2000′s the A2 (pictured above) was essentially a European market flop.
It was an oddly styled, underperforming mini-minivan that made extensive use of aluminum to save weight. But it was also a very fuel efficient vehicle: the 3-liter diesel version got nearly 80 miles per gallon (US) on the European cycle — making it the first vehicle to break the 3 liters per 100 kilometer mark.
And now Audi seems to think that the A2 was a flop because it was ahead of its time and they’re planning on bringing it back for the 2014 model year. Given the success of vehicles like the Mazda5 and the onslaught of what are essentially mini-minivans, perhaps Audi is right. Let’s just hope they make it look better this time around.
According to Green Car Advisor, Audi CEO Robert Stadler remarked at the Geneva Auto Show last week that there is clearly room for another vehicle in Audi’s lineup between their compact A3 and the recently announced A1 subcompact. The A1 e-tron variant shown last week is an extended range EV (EREV) powered by a wankel-type engine. It has a 30 mile range on batteries alone, and then can go an extended distance using the wankel as a generator to charge the batteries.
Given that the A2 is still in the planning stages, Audi hasn’t yet announced if it would be an all-electric or something similar to the wankel EREV that they showed in the A1 last week. It’s also not clear if the A2 would eventually end up in US showrooms.
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