Audi to produce Volkswagen Up-sized autonomous EV

Audi will put an autonomous all-electric city car akin to the Volkswagen e-up into low-volume production by 2021.

The announcement was made at Audi’s annual general meeting in Neckarsulm, Germany, where the brand’s plans for the next few years were laid out.

Audi stated that the technology would be ready for a small series of these A-segment cars in four years' time, whereupon an initial small production run would be undertaken.

This suggests that it would be an exploratory run of a car that could be produced in greater volumes later on, although an Audi spokesman couldn’t confirm any further details.

If a full-scale production model did appear, it could take the A0 or A2 name, with e-tron suffixed to signify its electric vehicle status, as with the upcoming E-Tron Sportback SUV. The fact that the autonomous EV would be smaller than the A1 suggests that A0 is likeliest.

The A0 would be the second-smallest car Audi has ever made if it were to fit into the standard A-segment dimensions; the smallest being the Volkswagen Polo-based Audi 50 of 1974.

The next-generation Volkswagen Up would likely share its underpinnings with the A0. The current Up is around 90mm longer than the 50. This would make the A0 the first A-segment model that Audi has made.

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