Abarth Unveils its First Performance BEV in Europe

Fiat’s sports sub-brand, Abarth, has unveiled its first BEV competitor, the Abarth 500e, aimed at the European market.

Drawing from its Fiat cousin, the Fiat 500e, the car promises a much more performance focused user experience with improved weight distribution, better torque, and a wider wheelbase. In the urban environment where its customer base is expected to live, the Abarth 500e claims better credentials than its ICE sibling the Abarth 695 being 1 second faster in the urban pickup, which means 50% faster acceleration from 12mph to 25mph than its gasoline-powered counterpart.

It also claims to be faster outside of city driving, for example on hairpin bends, where from 25 to 37mph it can reach the target speed in just 1.5 seconds, leaving the 695 behind by 49-feet which reaches 37mph a second later. On highway, too, the 500e performs overtaking maneuvers faster than its ICE version, reaching a speed of 62mph from 37mph when the 695 is still driving at 56mph. Also, on ‘Misto Alfa’ Balocco’s testing track the 500e beats the 695 by more than a second a lap.

The Abarth 500e is equipped with a 42 kWh battery coupled to a single e-motor, resulting in 113.7kW/152bhp enough to reach 62mph from standstill in a claimed 7 seconds. It also boasts three driving modes, Turismo, Scorpion Street and Scorpion Track, giving customers total freedom to fully enhance the sporty set-up and unleash the power of their Abarth in every challenge on the road.

To reduce its charging time, the Abarth 500e is equipped with the 85-kW fast-charging claiming to take less than five minutes to build up a sufficient energy reserve for daily mileage requirements of up to 25 miles. When in a hurry, the fast charge reaches up to 80% of the range in only 35 minutes.

Adding to the UX, the car is fitted with augmented sound to keep it in line with the family tradition of exciting exhaust notes. Also there’s a guitar sound in the cabin when the car is turned off and on even the AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alert System) gets a specific “jingle”.

At higher speeds the car’s Sound Generator provides the trademark Abarth “roar”. The system accompanies the engine performance, reproducing the sound of an Abarth gasoline engine.

Olivier Francois, Fiat and Abarth chief executive officer and global chief marketing officer of Stellantis, said: “The New Abarth 500e is one of the most exciting launches in the history of the brand: a great new addition to the Abarth line-up. I like to think of it as family, so our fanbase will be involved in every step of our electrification journey.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_