Here’s Your Best Look Yet at the New Audi A2

Last week, Audi revealed its biggest ever car in the form of the massive new Q9 SUV. This week, to balance things out, it's giving us our best look yet at what's set to become the smallest member of its range now that the A1 is a thing of the past: the new Audi A2, an all-electric revival of the cult classic, aluminium efficiency machine from the early noughties.

The good news is that the unusual shape of the original A2 is back in full force: the snub nose, gently curving roofline and dramatically cut-off kammtail incorporating a split rear windscreen all make their return, which isn’t all that surprising. Aerodynamics are once again a major concern with the new A2, and this is a shape that’s fundamentally good at cleaving cleanly through the air. Indeed, the new car gets a drag coefficient of 0.24, 0.01 better than even the slipperiest versions of the original.

Other aero-friendly features include active grille shutters that close off when not needed to smooth off the front end, aero wheel covers and a largely flat underbody. It otherwise looks like a transitional car for Audi design-wise: the front end, with its more angular face, is reminiscent of some of the company’s other recent efforts, but at the rear, there looks to be a move towards the more clean, monolithic design language previewed by the Concept C and debuting in full on the Nuvolari supercar.

Along with our best look yet at the design, Audi’s revealed some of the tech specs of the new A2. Other outlets have confirmed that it’ll sit on the same MEB underpinnings as the Volkswagen ID3 and Cupra Born, and that means that unlike the original A2, and indeed the latest crop of smaller VW Group EVs, it’ll be rear-wheel drive, with a single electric motor on the rear axle. At least one of the available motors will be a 188bhp unit, shared with the mid-range version of the newly facelifted VW ID3 Neo, although we’d bet on other outputs being available too.

Here, too, Audi has got properly nerdy about making everything as efficient as possible. We’re told that “silicon carbide semiconductors replace the previous silicon technology and significantly reduce switching losses,” and “thinner laminations (0.2 instead of 0.3 millimetres) reduce what are known as iron losses.” Yes. We agree.

The battery, meanwhile, is a 61kWh lithium-ion phosphate unit, and Audi says the provisional measurements put efficiency at 4.9m/kWh. That translates to a provisional peak range of 299 miles, assuming you have the right foot of a kitten and always drive exactly like you’re in a WLTP testing lab. Even so, it should be able to eclipse its platform-mates for range, especially if it gains the bigger battery options they have.

We’ll see the new A2 in full in the autumn, ahead of European sales beginning by year’s end, where pricing will likely start somewhere in the high £30k range. If you live in North America, though, then just like the original A2, you’ll likely be denied this one. Still, at least the original’s old enough to be eligible for US imports now.