Audi's Electric A2 Restomod Makes More Sense Than You Think

There are good reasons why the Audi A2s is an appealing candidate for an electric conversion.

Photo by: Audi

Peter Holderith

By: Peter Holderith

Oct 22, 2024 at 3:00pm ET

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Audi made an electric restomod of the cute, A2 city car to celebrate the model's 25-year anniversary.
It's a fun nod to a strange part of Audi's history, but it makes more sense than you might expect.
Because of its chassis configuration and electric power steering, the A2 is a great candidate for an EV swap.

The Audi A2 is one of the brand's most unusual cars. A lightweight hatchback designed to maximize interior space and fuel economy, its unique styling is of the love-hate variety. It's a cool car to convert to electric for that reason, and that's just what a group of Audi apprentices did. In a post on Linkedin, the company shared images of the newly-christened Audi A2 E-Tron, a restomodded electric version of the now 25-year-old city car.

The German automaker shared little about the vehicle besides some exterior photos. The car's lighting has been updated as well as its wheels and suspension. The interior also appears to have received a few aesthetic changes, but the company only shared an image of a modern Audi seat headrest, so we can't say much about what's new.

Gallery: Audi A2 E-Tron Concept

Source: Audi

The A2 is made almost entirely of aluminum stampings, castings and extrusions, which was a novelty when it was released. The floor of this body structure is of particular interest. It's constructed from several pieces of straight aluminum profiles. The result is several large rectangular voids which are ideal places to put batteries. The A2 also has electric power steering, so replacing an engine-driven hydraulic rack is unnecessary. Indeed, Johannes Hübner, one of the brains behind the OpenInverter project, beat Audi to the punch on electrifying an A2 a few years ago.

Credit: Wikimedia

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Audi didn't share any technical specifics on its A2 conversion, such as battery capacity, range, power or other figures. It's just an internal project, though, and not intended for sale.

Would be a lot cooler if it were. Audi could use a more interesting EV in the lineup.