The base build ships with 18-inch wheels and dual-zone climate control before a single option is ticked.
The German configurator went live September 15. Audi priced the entry A2 E-Tron at €38,200. That's the floor — cloth seats, non-metallic white paint, no matrix LEDs. Production started days earlier, on September 2. The launch moved fast.
The A2 E-Tron's arrival matters because Audi has not sold a car in this size class since the original A2 was discontinued in 2005. According to Audi Deutschland's published configurator data, released September 2025, the base car sits €4,000 above the Volkswagen ID.3 Neo that shares its platform — a gap that defines exactly what the four-ring badge now costs at the bottom of the EV range.
What €38,200 Buys Before the Options List Opens
The base A2 E-Tron runs a single rear-mounted electric motor rated at 170 hp and 350 Nm of torque. Audi quotes a 0–100 km/h sprint of 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 160 km/h. The 50-kWh lithium-ion battery returns 421 km on the WLTP cycle. DC fast charging peaks at 100 kW; Audi calculates a 10–80 percent charge in 24 minutes, adding roughly 115 km of WLTP range per 10 minutes at that rate. Kerb weight with no options fitted: 1,840 kg. The platform is shared with the VW ID.3 Neo, priced from approximately €34,000 — meaning the Audi premium at entry level works out to €4,200, or about 12.4 percent above the donor car (€38,200 ÷ €34,000 − 1 = 0.124). That figure sits inside the cluster of European compact segment expansion decisions traced back to the early 2000s, when Audi first attempted to justify a price premium in the sub-B-segment.
What the Configurator Actually Shows
Audi Deutschland's online configurator, live from 15 September 2025, lists the base specification under the designation A2 E-Tron — no trim suffix. The document records standard equipment as: 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights without matrix function, non-metallic paint, cloth upholstery, manually adjustable front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, ambient interior lighting, built-in satellite navigation, electrically adjustable and heated exterior mirrors, and wireless smartphone charging. Matrix LED headlights, metallic paint, and electric seat adjustment are listed as paid options. The configurator does not publish a weight figure for optioned variants, nor does it disclose battery chemistry beyond the 50-kWh gross capacity stated in Audi's press release of 2 September 2025. Audi has not confirmed whether a larger battery option will be offered at launch or reserved for a later model year — a gap the configurator leaves open.
Four Rings vs the Rest of the Compact EV Field
At €38,200, the base A2 E-Tron sits above the Renault 5 E-Tech, which opens at roughly €24,900 in comparable European markets, and above the base Volkswagen ID.3 Neo at approximately €34,000. The gap to the Renault is €13,300 — more than a third of the A2's own base price. Against its closest internal rival, the Q2, which Audi is phasing out, the A2 E-Tron arrives without a combustion alternative. The original A2, sold between 1999 and 2005, topped out at roughly €20,000 in period money; adjusted for euro-area inflation tracked by the European Central Bank through 2024, that figure approximates €28,000–€30,000 in 2025 terms, leaving the new car meaningfully more expensive in real terms. Chinese brands entering Europe — including Jaecoo, whose J7 topped UK monthly sales in 2025 — have made the sub-€30,000 compact EV space more contested than it was when Audi shelved the nameplate two decades ago.
The Part That Doesn't Quite Add Up
Audi positions the A2 E-Tron as its most affordable EV. The configurator confirms that. But the base specification still ships with 18-inch wheels — a wheel size that on many competing compact EVs is a paid upgrade. That detail sits oddly against manually adjustable front seats, which are the clearest cost-cut in the interior. The combination suggests Audi prioritised exterior visual presence over interior ergonomic comfort at the entry point, a trade-off that is unusual in this class. Also unresolved: Audi has not published a towing rating or a roof-load figure for the A2 E-Tron, details that affect real-world utility comparisons against the ID.3 Neo underneath it. The Volkswagen Group's platform-sharing approach — visible here and in decisions playing out across the range, including Skoda's acoustic engineering work on shared-platform NVH — means the mechanical package is not exclusive to Audi, yet the price premium demands justification beyond badge and trim.
Audi sold 16,523 units of the original A2 in its final full year of production, 2004, according to ACEA registration data published in its 2005 annual report — a volume the brand will need to exceed convincingly for the revival to register in segment share terms. The A2 E-Tron's European rollout beyond Germany has not been dated. The complete Audi model history and specifications are catalogued in the Global Auto Index manufacturer database.
