Audi reportedly cancels A2 electric car project

Audi has canceled plans to build a production version of its 2011 A2 electric car concept, Autocar reveals.

According to “highly-placed company sources”, plans for the aluminium-framed production model that would have rivalled the BMW i3 had been dropped.

The new Audi A2 was originally scheduled to go into production in 2015, as a plug-in hybrid and as a pure electric vehicle. The unnamed sources told Autocar that lessons learnt from the new A2 project would be included in future Audi models.

Audi’s 2011 A2 concept car used a „sandwich floor” construction, similar to the original Mercedes A-Class, which would provide room to store the lithium-ion battery pack. Audi promised a 125-mile range from the battery pack, with four hours necessary to recharge.

Audi’s decision is yet another proof that the market for pure electric vehicles may be much smaller than predicted. GM Europe recently dropped plans for an EV version of the Opel Adam city car, while sales of the Nissan Leaf have failed to meet targets in the U.S. In 2011,

Nissan sold 9,679 Leafs, while by the end of October 2012 only 6,791 Leafs were delivered. Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn set a target of 20,000 sales for the Leaf in 2012.