Over the last few years, Audi has made it a habit to tease us with concept cars and chunks of associated info that would seem to indicate that the automaker's next-generation A2 may be offered with an electric-only or some type of plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Audi got the ball rolling back in March of 2009 when Michael Dick, the automaker's chief of research and development, stated that the firm's upcoming small car had moved to the concept stage and would be engineered to accept both standard internal combustion engines and electric powertrains. Then, in March of 2010, rumors swirled again, this time claiming that the next A2, which was expected to debut in 2012 2014, would likely use an electric powertrain, possibly even sourced directly from the A1 e-tron concept. While those rumors were shot down, they were soon replaced with other reports claiming that an electric-only A2 was a definite possibility.
Now, it's time to move on to the latest round of rumors. Automobile Magazine claims that the next-gen A2 will apparently be offered in electric-only and two plug-in hybrid configurations. The electric version will reportedly have a range exceeding 150 miles, while the plug-in hybrid variants will feature a choice of gasoline or diesel three-cylinder engines and boast an electric-only range of 40 to 60 miles. Apparently, the drawn out process of deciding which powertrains should be shoehorned into the compact A2 has pushed back its launch to early 2015. Maybe we'll know for sure one of these days, but if this one turns out to be nothing more than a rumor, don't say you weren't warned.
[Source: Green Car Reports, Automobile Magazine]
