Audi Scraps A1 and A2 E-tron Electric Vehicles
As BMW considers contingency plans for its i3 and i8 electric vehicles, fellow German automaker Audi has decided to just pull the plug on one of its EV initiatives.
Audi has reportedly cancelled the A2 electric city car project while it appears that the A1 e-tron will also follow in its footsteps. Audi’s biggest concern was the price tag for its A2 e-tron, which was estimated to be around $50,000 and wondered if it could realistically sell the model in volume. Further justifying the decision, electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMiEV have not caught on to the extent first hoped the European market.
It seems like there will be a place and time for luxury electric cars, but as of right now, the European luxury automakers are a hesitant to fully pull the trigger in manufacturing them. BMW attributes it’s hesitation to the fact that EV demand hasn’t risen, nor has the infrastructure required to make them feasible been put in place worldwide.
Perhaps if the costs associated with developing and manufacturing EVs dropped, then we might see more of them come to market.
[Source: CAR]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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