Audi revives the A2 as its most efficient car ever, at 12.8kWh/100km

Audi has revived the A2 name for an electric hatchback it calls the most efficient car in its history, using 12.8kWh/100km on the WLTP cycle and covering up to 646km on a charge, with European orders opening on 10 September and deliveries from December.

The A2 e-tron, confirmed as Audi’s entry-level EV in March, is priced in Germany from 38,200 euros, around NZ$75,000 at current rates before any local adjustment. Audi has framed the car explicitly around European buyers and has not announced it for other markets.

Four motors, three batteries

The line-up spans four rear-drive power outputs, from 125kW and 350Nm to 240kW and 545Nm, and three battery sizes. The 52kWh and 61kWh packs use lithium iron phosphate cells in a cell-to-pack design, while the 84kWh pack is nickel manganese cobalt and reserved for the 170kW and 240kW cars. The 170kW version returns the 646km headline range; the 140kW car with an optional efficiency package sets the 12.8kWh/100km consumption figure. DC charging peaks at 183kW on the large battery for a 29-minute 10-80% charge, with the LFP packs managing 24 to 26 minutes at 100 to 105kW. The 240kW car reaches 100km/h in 5.7 seconds.

The efficiency comes from a 0.24 drag coefficient, the best in Audi’s compact range, achieved through a closed underbody, a controllable front air intake, aero wheels and gap reducers that narrow the space between tyre and wheel arch, along with silicon carbide power electronics, polished gear teeth and low-viscosity transmission oil. Bidirectional charging is optional, with vehicle-to-load from a boot socket and vehicle-to-home in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Softwrap, Fidlock and a 21-month shortcut

Inside, a fabric-covered Softwrap dashboard runs into the doors and rear, a curved 11.9-inch cluster and 12.8-inch touchscreen are standard, and Audi has fitted the magnetic Fidlock fastening system as standard, a first for a premium carmaker, with adapters in the console for cup holders and cable bags. A cooled dual-phone wireless charger, a 1.6 square metre panoramic roof and Microsoft Teams integration are among the options. Boot space is 396 litres, 1,336 with the seats down, plus a 13-litre frunk on the two most powerful variants.

Audi says the car reached production 21 months faster than comparable predecessors, and is built at Ingolstadt alongside the A3 using more than 1,200 existing production assets and around 250 reused robots. More than 300 components use recycled materials, with over 100 of those from post-consumer sources.

The original A2, sold from 1999 to 2005, was an aluminium-bodied efficiency experiment that arrived ahead of its market. The new one lands in a week that also brought Skoda’s 936km single-charge run from the same Volkswagen Group, and while Audi New Zealand’s electric range currently runs from the Q4 e-tron upward, the company has made no announcement about an A2 for this market.