Abarth. A name that has conveyed sportiness and fun since the beginning of the brand's history in the 1950s. After an absence during the late 20th century, Abarth made a successful comeback with the Nuova Fiat 500 and the Fiat Punto. Both cars sold in high numbers. Especially the Abarth 500. Known for their small but relatively powerful engines, ridiculous engine sounds and Go-kart-feeling handling, the Abarth 500 gained loads of fans worldwide.
As the European politics tries to get rid of and forces car makers to stop producing all the combustion engine cars, Fiat (and Abarth in conclusion) had to take a step into the EV-market.
What is it all about?
The Abarth 500e is based on the Fiat 500 electric just like when Carlo Abarth himself began emboldening Fiat 500s back in the late 1950s. That brings a super-compact electric hatchback, front-wheel drive and a more emotional design that's a funky retro-modernized version of those 1950-70s fun and race cars.
The new Abarth seems like it’s the only small fun electric car on the current market which is perfectly usable on daily basis. But is the new Abarth able to transform the brand’s signature characteristics into an electric drivetrain?
First impressions:
The first reinterpretation of the Fiat Nuova 500 (from 2007-2015) was already a great design success. With the second generation of the 500, Fiat succeeded in giving the bestseller a contemporary makeover. Only the bumpers, color accents, logos and stickers are new to the Abarth compared regular Fiat 500e. Only some minor changes to the exterior make the new Abarth look much sportier. Underneath, however, a lot more has happened. We will come back to the car’s underpinnings in a second.
It's the same motor as the one in the base electric Fiat 500; a permanent magnet job but given more juice by upgrades to the inverter and battery wiring. Another six per cent effective torque at the wheels comes from lowering the ratio of the single-speed drive.
The suspension is stiffer, and the steering weightier. The rear brakes are stronger. Bigger tires and rims are special to the car.
The shown press car is painted in the optional color (CHF 1000.-) called “Acid Green”. An utterly bold color choice that for sure doesn’t match everyone’s taste. Mine either. But it underlines the aspect with an electric drivetrain. I mean, Porsche did the same with their 918 Spyder.
Let’s have a seat.
But first, look at them. As they aren’t only good looking, they are very comfortable with great lateral support on twisty roads. As you look closely, you might recognize a pattern that illustrates the Abarth’s scorpion logo. The cabin houses many small details like Turin’s city skyline on the wireless charging pad, the bi-color stitching, the old Fiat 500 silhouette in the door handle or a hidden cup holder underneath the center console.
Small car only for small peeps? If an average adult is driving, no one older than approximately 10 (or as tall as I am) is going to be able to sit properly in the back. Jokes aside. An adult with a maximum height of 1.75m finds its way on the back seats quite easy. If you’re, taller, you might touch the car’s roof and run out of leg room. The space might just be alright for short drives. Only two seat belts back there anyway. It's a city crawler. Or a coupe if you’d prefer to use cool descriptions.
As the Abarth is remaining a small sort-of entry-level EV, the used materials are alright. Of course, there’s loads of hard plastic to be found. Especially on the door panels. And I’ve honestly wished the door panel’s upper part to be something nice instead of hard plastic.
Boot space, as you’d expect, is minimal at 185 liters with the back seats up, and 550 liters with the seats down. That’s bigger than the Honda e, but smaller than the Mini Electric. Beside that, the trunk volume stayed the exact same as the petrol engine predecessor Abarth 500 had on offer. There’s no frunk to store your dirty charging cables, so those must be stowed in the back too. But for what the 500 is intended, its fairly enough. Those reasons you might get to know in review’s following section.
Come on, hit the road!
Starting up the Abarth: Press the brake and hit the “ignition” button. Suddenly, a noise booms from the dashboard. It sounds like a chord on an electric guitar. Cool. Somehow. But, it could be even cooler if these noises get pumped through the car’s speakers! Abarth likes to call their welcome sound “Rock n’ Roar”. So, then let it rock properly instead letting the shy noises coming from the dash!
Anyway, let’s get back to the more important stuff:
What’s the perfect use for an electric car? Have you ever asked yourself about the ideal purpose of a battery powered car?
Well, I might answer this question. Buyers criticize short ranges, heavy cars and long charging times. But what if you use your small city car in urban environment, charged at home over night for your short daily commute instead of a combustion engine car that consumes too much petrol in cities and doesn’t properly get into its operating temperature on very short drives?
The Abarth’s verdict is, that it can't do the job of a bigger petrol hatch. But it never applied for that job anyway. The WLTP range is specified as 265km. Impossible, unless you’re within perfect conditions like 20°C outside temperature and city traffic with many recuperation possibilities. An honest range of approximately 220km is realistic. So, the electrified scorpion is able to do short trips which are planned carefully depending on its capable reaching distance. I managed to reach an average consumption of 12.5kWh/100km in floating city and countryside traffic with a forward-looking driving style. Sub 15kWh/100km is possible. But, as soon as you hit the motorway, the average consumption climbs up towards 20kWh/100km.
Now, please, hit the gas!
Shouldn’t an Abarth be noisy? Yes, definitely. And so, is this one? Yes! There's a speaker underneath the car’s back, and it makes an outward sound modelled on the exhaust of the petrol Abarth 695. Hit the throttle at a standstill and it even makes a revvy noise. The noises continue as you drive, rising and falling in pitch and intensity with accelerator or brake pressure, so they alter as you sweep through bends. I’m not sure why they couldn't have just piped the sound into the cabin speakers rather than beaming it outward. Guess that's the cheek of the thing. As ridiculous an Abarth is allowed to be? At least it’s possible to turn off the artificial sounds inside and outside. It’s fun for a few jokes, though.
Any Abarth is fun to drive, right? It is. No, not the riot that some hot hatches are. But it goes smartly and corners convincingly. It's agile and engaging in bends, happy to gently squirm the tail on lift-off thanks to its short wheelbase. The steering is accurate too. The steering wheel is grippy and has a perfect thickness.
The ride is firm, but it doesn't bump or jolt. It is therefore at the more comfortable end of the spectrum. In contrast to an Abarth with a gasoline engine, which is hectic, loud, unruly and uncomfortable - but occasionally more fun.
Abarth says the 0-100kph time is 7.0 seconds, thanks to a 155hp electric engine. That's what you might call snail’s pace rather than searing performance. But of course, the instant response of an electric motor does make up for an apparent shortfall in the figures. Additionally, although the new Abarth 500e weighs over 1,4 tons, it’s not that extremely heavy for an electric car with a 42kW battery pack, but heavy for a tiny city crawler in general.
As we know Abarth, I’m expecting that they’re working on more uncompromising versions of their latest little baby I’ve tested in this review. Maybe, they’ll bring a track focused, stripped down and lighter edition. I’m hoping for it. A slightly less civilized variant would fit Abarth’s philosophy even better.
Do I still buy an Abarth?
Pretty simple: Yes. Abarth achieved an emotionally charged rebirth of a cult vehicle, which presumably continues to appeal and could be sold. Even though the sound generator might be questionable, it is just as exaggerated as the engine sound of the Abarth combustion engines, which have been on the market for many years in the Punto, 124 Spider and 500. The Abarth 500 retains its character, it just shows it in a different way.
And anyone who now criticizes the rather short range of the electric drive, has not understood my argument in the review above. A thoroughly successful vehicle which, in my opinion, fits in perfectly with the Abarth community.
The only limping leg is that the Abarth’s base price starts at CHF 37’990.- or 40’990.- Swiss Francs for the soft-top version. It is quite an expensive car compared to its size. Especially for young buyers, which is the Abarth 500e’s targeted audience. Interestingly, the Swiss car market already offers new fully optioned cars for CHF 35’000 half a year after its debut.
To end this review, I wanted to thank Astara (the official Swiss Abarth importer) for lending me their bold looking 500e to properly test drive it for one week. As a true purist, I honestly liked the Abarth a lot and enjoyed every minute with it. To everyone’s surprise, probably.
Review & photos by: RPM | Robin P. M.
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