ABARTH 500E

Pumped-up Fiat EV departs in a blaze of colour. Glory, too?

- FELIX PAGE

The story around Abarth's first electric car has changed quite substantially since we took delivery just a few months ago.

When this warmed-up Fiat 500e was launched, the electric hot hatch segment was barely in existence, and those cars that were on offer were much bigger, more familyfocused propositions like the Cupra Born and Smart #1 Brabus. But since then, Mini has come to market with the Cooper SE, the Renault 5-based Alpine A290 is inbound and Volkswagen is working on an electric follow-up to the Polo GTI. And just a few weeks ago, it emerged that Stellantis was pausing production of the Fiat and Abarth 500e, because it simply couldn't find homes for all the EVs that Turin was pumping out. That isn't only a Fiat problem, of course, but it does raise questions about the ultimate desirability of this tiny, short-legged and relatively costly proposition.

In light of all those developments, it will be as annoying to you as it is to me that after several months and a few thousand miles at the helm, I still haven't quite arrived at a prevailing judgement on the Abarth 500e.

On a purely objective basis, it's easily done - and of course we rate cars conclusively every week in our reviews section. According to the criteria applied there, I can tell you exactly how good this silent but violent supermini really is: it's pretty fun to drive and looks brilliant, but its interior is a bit basic, it has a short range and it's very expensive, resulting in an overall rating of three and a half stars.