The all-electric Audi e-tron range will soon branch out into the compact class with the new A2 e-tron, which has just been officially teased for the first time. 

The newcomer is set for its world premiere in the autumn, and our spies have caught it testing multiple times already, but Audi has only just confirmed the return of the A2 name during its annual media conference. 

The A2 e-tron will be pitched as Audi’s entry EV, acting as an indirect replacement for the A1 and Q2, as well as an all-electric alternative to the similarly sized combustion-engined A3 hatchback. Among its rivals will be the likes of the MINI Aceman, Volvo EX30 and Mercedes EQA.

We expect a significant gap in price to Audi’s next largest electric car, the £47,355 Q4 e-tron (which can be had with an average saving of over £4,000 on the Auto Express Buy A Car service), with the A2 e-tron likely to start around the £30,000 mark. 

Audi CEO Gernot Döllner announced the A2 e-tron and explained why Audi has lowered the entry point to its e-tron range: “Our customers want electric mobility that impresses in everyday life. The A2 e-tron is our promise to deliver exactly that – efficient, compact, and confident. We’re making entry into the electric Audi world easier and more relevant than ever.”

What will the new Audi A2 e-tron look like? 

Audi says the A2 name “is a deliberate nod to the Audi A2, which pioneered efficiency and urban mobility over 25 years ago”. We can clearly see the original A2 has influenced the A2 e-tron’s design as well. The teaser image shows a silhouette that follows the upright bodystyle of the famous oddball Audi A2 hatchback from the early 2000s.

The most obvious reference to the A2 is the car’s cab-forward silhouette, with a steeply angled windscreen and short bonnet helping with aerodynamics. Compared with the Volkswagen ID.3, the Audi’s roofline is lower and sleeker, and arcs more aggressively at the rear to create a tail that looks directly related to the A2’s.