UK Drive: Can Abarth crack the electric hot hatch formula with the 500e?
The new Abarth 500e definitely has eye-catching looks, but what else does it offer? Jack Evans finds out.
What is it?
It’s pretty hard to translate old traditions into the new. Take Abarth. It’s a brand known for making some characterful hot hatches that bark and cackle with life, characteristics which have made them quite a hit with enthusiasts the world over but particularly in the UK.
But how do you take a peppy – and petrol-powered – hot hatch and move it forward into an age which is focused on electrification? Well, it hopes to do that with this – the 500e. From the outside it definitely resembles the petrol Abarth, but is it all look? We’ve been behind the wheel to find out.
What’s new?
Abarth has followed a similar format to the one it takes with the regular 595 and 695 combustion-engined models. You take the regular Fiat 500 – which in this case, is the electric 500e – uprate it with more power and a wider, more aggressive stance while throwing in some extra sparkle across the board. It’s worked before, so you can see why Abarth believes it’ll work again.
There’s barely anything to tie this electric Abarth with the petrol version, too, this isn’t some re-purposed older model. Everything you can see and touch is new and, in the metal and inside, it certainly feels that way.
What’s under the bonnet?
