Fast and spurious

ABARTH 500e TURISMO

- Paul Horrell

Welcome to the first electric hot hatch. Take electric car, stir in extra power, a stiffer suspension, spoilers and a jazzier cabin. Since this is no longer the Nineties, we won’t insist on red seatbelts.

This Abarth is based on the Fiat 500 electric, just like when Carlo Abarth himself began emboldening Fiat 500s back in the late Fifties. They even gave it a sound generator designed to mimic a petrol engine. The noise was shaped with input from Abarth’s rabidly active and loyal fanbase, as a means of keeping those petrolheads onside. A waterproof speaker sits under the back of the car, emitting an outward sound modelled on the optional Record Monza exhaust of the petrol Abarth 695. Prod the throttle at a standstill and out come revvy FX. As you drive, the sound rises and falls in pitch and intensity with accelerator or brake pressure, and as you sweep through bends. Daft? Brilliant? A bit of both. In town it must irritate people, as it’s at the legal volume limit for a petrol car. On a twisty road it really does help you gauge speed into and through corners. But given it’s a dummy sound, why not just play it through the stereo speakers? Anyway, you can switch it off.

The 155bhp motor is enough for quickish poke off the line and up to 60-odd, where it tails off a bit. Still, the instant response of an electric motor does make up for an apparent shortfall in the figures. The battery is just over 37kWh net. Not big compared with the Peugeot e-208’s recent bump to 51kWh. Range then is a comparatively meagre 157 miles of WLTP on these 18-inch wheels.