Audi unveils its cheapest EV yet: also its most efficient

Audi has once again provided hints this week about its upcoming A2 e-tron, a compact electric hatchback, promising industry-leading efficiency thanks to a series of engineering measures.

By reviving a classic, iconic name that was also synonymous with vehicle efficiency, the reborn A2 is being touted as “the most efficient Audi of all time,” and hints about its design have also been revealed through a series of images of camouflaged prototypes.

The efficiency benchmark for the 2027 Audi A2 e-tron lineup will be the 140-kW variant with the “efficiency package,” which uses a “140-kW permanently excited synchronous motor designed specifically for efficiency and driving comfort.”

It is paired with a 61 kWh (gross) lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, which is also claimed to achieve a charging efficiency of 89.6% when using a wallbox, thanks to an “adapted cooling strategy.”

Audi has not yet confirmed the full figures according to the WLTP cycle, but this specific 140-kW, 61-kWh variant, with the optional efficiency package, has achieved a reported consumption of 12.8 kWh/100 km in preliminary WLTP cycle testing.

Range figures have not been provided, but these numbers suggest a potential range of about 470 km.

The 140 kW Audi A2 e-tron with the efficiency package has a drag coefficient of 0.24—which is “the best in Audi’s compact lineup”—and features a number of aerodynamic characteristics and measures that are said to reduce official energy consumption by up to 0.9 kWh/100 km.