New Audi A2

The most efficient Audi of all time: meet the new A2

Audi resurrects the name of its game-changing eco-champ as a modern-day 'logical' EV

Fitness for purpose. Is there really a more important metric by which to judge a car? Not when it comes to something like the new Audi A2, which has multiple mission statements, but aims to be USEFUL above all.

Firstly, it’s the company’s entry-level car, and replaces the A1 and Q2. Secondly, it’s electric but Audi insists that it should be all the car a family needs. (So not just a runaround with a Q7 next to it on the driveway for those weekends in the Cotswolds.) And thirdly, the name self-evidently echoes its early Noughties aluminium-rich and now beloved cult classic forebear.

The name and the silhouette. Except that the new A2 is not mining the same retro vibes as the next TT. TG.com is in a studio in Germany inspecting it for clues, and yes, there are definite call-backs. But when you set out to maximise aero and range in a compact but roomy EV form, this is what you end up with: appealingly short front and rear overhangs, a lozenge-y shape, and a split rear window. Point of fact, when the design team began work on it the name hadn’t even been decided. Design lead Jakob Hirzel tells us more.

“An overly aero-oriented car usually has a teardrop shape but the A2 has edges, solid sculpted surfaces, and a proud volume at the front. It has its own character, and we were really pushing for that. The black panel in the nose absorbs all the sensors and clutter we have to package now. It gives the car a distinct face. The rectangle is an extrusion of the whole car, and you can see that it in the body sides and at the rear.”

In other words, the A2 looks more grown-up and less Pixar-y than Audi’s OG city car. It’s a feeling underlined by the fat wheelarches, shallow DLO (glass area), and the speedy rake of the windscreen. Those clean body sides are welcome, too, with little wing-tip electric door-handles playing their part there. And rather than monochromatic and machined-looking colours, Audi favours strident blues and a Pistachio green for the A2.

It’s all in the aid of dialling up the car’s personality, although the 0.24 drag co-efficient anchors the science. As do smooth underfloor aero transitions and the ‘gap reducers’ between the wheel and the wheel arches. The wheels themselves are available in 18- to 20in diameter, carefully aero-optimised in the expected EV idiom, but wrapped in stockier 225 to 235mm rubber. They’re optimised for rolling resistance, though, and run higher than normal pressures.

More vibrant motors should also help differentiate it from the other VW Group cars that ride on the MEB platform. That’s been Audi-fied here. The A2 uses the latest generation of permanent-magnet synchronous motors, depending on the power level. Here’s proof that the EV world is one of constant iterative improvement. The new motors – known as APP350 and 550 – feature a variety of mods to enhance overall efficiency, including the use of low-viscosity oil, highly polished gearbox spurs, and more advanced stator and rotor components. Expensively engineered marginal gains means more range, and everyone values that.


1788773562076.png

1788773579836.png

1788773596645.png

1788773612489.png

1788773623978.png

1788773638340.png

1788773650555.png

1788773666215.png

1788773678309.png
 
New A2 revealed as most efficient Audi ever

Touted as the most efficient car Audi has ever produced, the A2 e-tron has made its official global debut.

The Audi A2 e-tron is available with the choice of three battery options: 52 and 61 kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) and 84 kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC). All models feature single, rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous electric motors.

The A2 e-tron models equipped with the 52 and 61 kWh LFP battery packs produce 125 kW/350 N.m and 140 kW/350 N.m, respectively. Paired with the 84 kWh NMC battery, the A2 e-tron is available in two states of tune: 170 kW/350 N.m and 240 kW/545 N.m. Power is delivered to the road via the rear wheels.

Audi claims 0-100 km/h sprint times of 8.8, 7.9, 7.0, and 5.7 seconds for the 125, 140, 170, and 240 kW variants, respectively. While the 125, 140, and 170 kW derivatives have a claimed 160 km/h top speed, the most powerful of the quartet tops out at 200 km/h.

So, what about energy consumption and operating range? Well, in terms of efficiency, the model equipped with the 61 kWh LFP battery, and producing 140 kW, is the most efficient, at a claimed 12.8 kWh/100 km. The least powerful variant is the second most efficient, at 13.7 kWh/100 km, while the 170 and 240 kW variants’ energy consumption are rated at 13.9 and 14.2 kWh/100 km, respectively.

The 170 kW A2 e-tron offers the most range, with its 84 kWh NMC battery serving up a claimed 646 km. The most powerful (240 kW) model’s 84 kWh NMC item offers “up to” 630 km, while the 125 and 140 kW variants have claimed operating ranges of “up to” 423 and 515 km, respectively.

www.carmag.co.za

New A2 revealed as most efficient Audi ever

Touted as the most efficient car Audi has ever produced, the A2 e-tron has made its official global debut...
www.carmag.co.za www.carmag.co.za
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X