• Audi cancels its electric A2 competitor to the BMW i3 - Audi makes the smart move?

                    
      		   
      Published on 01-02-2013 09:51 PM
      7 Comments Comments
      Hard to disagree with Audi's reasoning here. Rather than invest a ton of money to compete with the BMW i3 Audi simply said screw it and canned their A2. The A2 was scheduled to go into production in 2015 as a 100% electric to combat the BMW i3 as well as in a plug-in hybrid format. The A2 was set to have a battery underneath the floorboard powering a 114 horsepower electric motor which drove the front wheels and provided a 125 mile range.


      BMW has sunk a ton of money into the "i" brand. The project has the potential of costing BMW a ton of money and rumors floated about regarding the entire project being scrapped. If it does not work out, BMW will take a large loss. If it does work out, BMW will likely make a ton of money. Audi seems content to let BMW take the chances and if people are buying premium EV's to then enter the market with what they have learned from the concepts such as the E-Tron. Audi may be playing this smarter than BMW especially if the electric market proves to be smaller than thought, as Nissan found out with the Leaf.

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      This article was originally published in forum thread: Audi cancels its electric A2 competitor to the BMW i3 - Audi makes the smart move? started by Sticky View original post
      Comments 7 Comments
      1. mkodama's Avatar
        mkodama - 01-02-2013, 11:50 PM
        Probably a good call, but I still think the whole VW group are in a risky situation with the limited electric and hybrid technology they have.
      1. BlackJetE90OC's Avatar
        BlackJetE90OC - 01-02-2013, 11:55 PM
        Good call. BMW should scrap the overpriced ugly as hell i3.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 01-02-2013, 11:56 PM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by mkodama Click here to enlarge
        Probably a good call, but I still think the whole VW group are in a risky situation with the limited electric and hybrid technology they have.
        They have pretty damn good hybrid technology...
      1. mkodama's Avatar
        mkodama - 01-07-2013, 02:00 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Sticky Click here to enlarge
        They have pretty damn good hybrid technology...
        I'm sure it's really good, but if it isn't as good as their competitors, then it doesn't help them much.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 01-11-2013, 01:34 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by mkodama Click here to enlarge
        I'm sure it's really good, but if it isn't as good as their competitors, then it doesn't help them much.
        Well the Porsche 918 Spyder I would argue is better than anything their competitors offer. Obviously this is a supercar in the VW group but it shows they have the technology available to do whatever they want.
      1. mkodama's Avatar
        mkodama - 01-19-2013, 01:01 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Sticky Click here to enlarge
        Well the Porsche 918 Spyder I would argue is better than anything their competitors offer. Obviously this is a supercar in the VW group but it shows they have the technology available to do whatever they want.
        The 918 spyder isn't released yet, and also one of the flywheel system may not even be able to be used in cars outside of Porsche, since it's a licensed technology from Williams.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 01-19-2013, 01:02 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by mkodama Click here to enlarge
        The 918 spyder isn't released yet, and also one of the flywheel system may not even be able to be used in cars outside of Porsche, since it's a licensed technology from Williams.
        Well but it's coming and it's more advanced than anything the competition has...