Running into the same issue here with a similar configuration.
nicoabie@minty ~/Development $ sudo ionic start ionic2test --v2
Starting an Ionic v2 application
Downloading: https://github.com/driftyco/ionic2-starter-tabs/archive/master.zip
[=============================] 100% 0.0s
Installing Node Modules
Updated the hooks directory to have execute permissions
Adding native plugins
Unable to add plugins. Perhaps your version of Cordova is too old. Try updating (npm install -g cordova), removing this project folder, and trying again. (CLI v2.0.0-alpha.9)
Your system information:
Cordova CLI: 5.3.3
Gulp version: CLI version 3.8.11
Gulp local: Local version 3.9.0
Ionic Version: 2.0.0-alpha.30
Ionic CLI Version: 2.0.0-alpha.9
Ionic App Lib Version: 0.5.0-alpha.9
OS: Distributor ID: LinuxMint Description: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Node Version: v4.2.1