► The first proper hot hatch?
► Our impressions after half a year
► Read month 1 here
The Abarth 500e was arguably the first electric hot hatch to arrive on the scene, beating the likes of the larger Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, Mini Cooper S and leftfield MG 4 XPower to market. Even after 18 months on sale it remains a rare sight on our roads, however, and that rarity makes spotting one in traffic a treat. They’re not hard to identify – they tend to come in a colour palette leaked from Stabilo highlighter pens’ R&D department.
I love the look of it: a back-to-basics, fun pocket rocket from the old school, but given a modern makeover with our Poison Blue paintwork and the transplant of an electric drivetrain in place of the outgoing Abarth’s 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine. It’s a fun recipe on paper, and so it proved in daily life over our extended test.
Things improved after an inauspicious start. The first time I drove our blue rollerskate, I took an instant dislike to the Abarth Sound Generator. The company made a real fuss of it at launch, and I thought it was ridiculous and ill-judged. I mean, who wants an electric car to blare out an artificial petrol soundtrack so loudly, even at a standstill, that pedestrians would stop and stare?
The surprisingly large underfloor speaker was silenced (with some sub-menu difficulty) within 24 hours, never to be heard again. Everything that Hyundai has got right with the 5 N’s dynamic sounds, Abarth got wrong. Silence restored, I got to know the Abarth properly.
It’s fun to drive and I quickly came to admire its pointy go-kart handling and fizzy joie de vivre. This is the core capability that shone brightly throughout our half-year relationship, the trade-off being a firm ride. I drove it back-to-back with the new electric Mini and preferred the handling and performance of the Abarth; it might not be as powerful or quick, but you can access more acceleration, more of the time, and it doesn’t torque-steer wildly like the more wayward Mini.
Mind you, you have to be a bit careful deploying all 152bhp, because the range will tumble if you give it the full beans everywhere. It’s not terribly inefficient, but a short range was guaranteed by the modest 42kWh battery. Result? It’ll barely do much more than 100 miles before a charge is needed and that means you’ll either treat the Abarth as simply a city runabout or become familiar with Zapmap and the expense of public charging in Britain. We never saw more than 140 miles on the range meter.
Can we criticise a car for a small battery? I think it’s a purchasing decision entered eyes wide open. Small battery? Small range. I averaged 3.4 miles per kilowatt hour over 5115 miles, perhaps reflecting the fun nature of the performance on tap.
In a similar fashion, you really shouldn’t criticise a small car for being small: I struggled to get my teenage children in the 500e’s tiny rear seats and my dog didn’t fit. But that’s hardly a surprise on a city car that’s 3.6 metres long. I drove most of the time one or two up.
Capacity issues aside, I loved everything about it. It’s right-sized for zipping around town and those diminutive dimensions made it a joy to thread along narrow country lanes and easy in multi-storey car parks. The Alcantara steering wheel and dashboard made it feel special inside and did just enough to distract from what is quite a plasticky interior. It’s generously equipped and our top Turismo spec came with a few toys worthy of a more upmarket car, including wireless phone charging, 360o parking cameras and a swooping panoramic glass roof for an airy cabin.
Nothing broke or went wrong in our half-year test. We had to get it serviced, as the first-year anniversary of registration passed while we had the car, and were impressed by the modest £98 cost, and all four tyres had 5mm of tread left when the car departed. Modest running costs should be balanced against a worrying £15k drop in value in its first year; not a factor if you lease or PCP your car – and it’ll make a more attractively priced second-hand purchase, I guess.
It’s comfy up front, although I’d have preferred the driver’s seat to be six inches lower (you sit too close to the header rail for a curiously pinched, pillar- box view out). Special mention to Fiat’s 10-inch Uconnect touchscreen, which was easy to use and mine defaulted to CarPlay on every journey.
One more baffling bit of tech was the electro-pushbutton door handles inside. I don’t remember anyone getting in and understanding how to open the door first time.
These are mostly trivial matters that didn’t get in the way of a fun and zesty little car. I enjoyed driving the 500e very much – appreciating especially its well-judged one-pedal calibration, the punchy acceleration and the handling. If you want an electric, zeitgeisty hot hatch with a dollop of character, look no further
Logbook: Abarth 500e Turismo (month 6)
Price: £38,195 (£38,795 as tested)
Performance: 42kWh battery, e-motor, 152bhp, 7.0sec 0-62mph, 96mph
Efficiency: 3.3 miles per kWh (official), 3.4 miles per kWh (tested), 0g/km CO2
Range: 158 miles (claimed), 143 miles (tested)
Energy cost: 10.5p per mile
Miles this month: 312
Total miles: 5115
Count the cost
Price new £38,795
Part exchange £23,790
Cost per mile 10.5p
Cost per mile including depreciation £3.00