Roaring forte
The Abarth 500e Convertible is an electric souped up version of a Fiat classic – complete with a system that simulates the traditional Abarth roar through a noise generator. Frederic Manby reports.
WHAT would Carlo think of the electric Abarth 500. That’s rhetorical. Carlo Abarth (1908-78) made a name tuning and racing motorbikes and selling go-faster exhaust systems in Italy in the 1930s. Motto: go faster than yesterday. At 57 he was still breaking world records in his light small cars, eating apples to reduce his weight by 37kg. He was famous for hot Abarth versions of the Fiat 500, In 1971 he sold up to his giant neighbour.
The scorpion logo, his birth sign, is liberally applied to the current cars, made in Turin and sold as Abarth in the UK, based on the petrolengined Fiat 500 and, seen here, on the electric 500e. They look similar but the electric models are a generation on, with updated interiors and a more refined chassis which eliminates some of the road shocks on bad roads.
The Abarth versions of the petrol and electric Fiats are sportier in looks and manner, with more power and more noise. The electric Abarth can be made noisy with a sound generator which gives an approximation of a revving petrol engine. More on this trickery later.
The Abarth 500e has 33.5bhp more than the Fiat 500e, reaching 150bhp and claiming a 0-62mph time of seven seconds, which is two seconds ahead of the electric Fiat and quicker than its petrol-fuelled Abarth kin other than the 695 model with 177.5bhp and a 6.7 seconds time. The instant power delivery of the electric car and seamless automatic gearing makes it feel quicker. However, at its maximum of 90mph it would be looking at the petrol Abarth’s chubby rump disappearing up the autobahn – and hearing its gloriously raucous Abarth Monza tailpipes.
The electric Abarth can raise its own voice but it is mimicry, simulating the Abarth roar with some success through a noise generator.
They say it took 6,000 hours to create. Its most realistic effect is in replicating the petrol Abarth’s rorty tick over burble. It also gives some aural joy when accelerating.
By 50mph the monotone makes you look for a higher gear – which of course there isn’t. From then it becomes an annoying drone at motorway speeds.
The answer is to switch it off, yet you can only do this when the car is stationary – and then by a fiddly sequence of menus on the instruments behind the steering wheel. Perhaps a few more hundred hours of work could have given it a simple on/off switch.
Neither of these electric three-door, fourseater superminis is cheap, The Fiat 500e costs from £28,195 (petrol models range from £16,790) and the Abarth 500 prices start at £34,195 (petrol models from £23,225). The electric cars emit no engine pollution, are spared road tax and congestion tolls and if you can charge them at home give many more miles for your pound.
The body colours set the mood: Antidote White, Venom Black, Adrenaline Red, Acid Green and Poison Blue.
We were sent a blue convertible which has a fast-acting concertina opening roof, adding £3,000 to the bill. In Turismo mode (used for the majority of this test) the maximum power is set at 132bhp and torque is reduced. Choosing Scorpion Street raises the power to the full 150bhp and adds extra torque for a spirited drive, while in Scorpion Track it gets more aggressive and twitchy and squirms fighting for tyre grip. It is a very lively thing, nippy and nimble and easy to dart through traffic, ideal for the city style setter with cash.
Despite temptations I gave the Abarth an easy time in the gentler Turismo setting. Even so, its range dropped more than the actual miles travelled. Starting with a full battery with a full battery showing a136 miles range, my 77 miles took me to Kirkby Lonsdale and the Lune and into the Barbon fells and out through Dentdale to the head of the Ribble, quite gentle stuff actually. The data showed 97 miles had gone from the range, leaving 39 miles and 39 per cent of the battery.
A 75 kWh Osprey swipe-card charger in
‘The cabin is fine for two adults in the front. There is a tight scramble to get into the two rear seats.’
Skipton (costing 79p/kWh) charged it to 82 per cent, giving a range of 104 miles. (Going to 100pc would have taken another 50 minutes.) That took £16.69 off my debit card to pay for 77 miles travelled. At current petrol prices that equates to 30mpg. On my domestic tariff of 28.7p per kWh it would have cost £5.81 giving 83 miles a gallon. The trip computer said it had been doing 3.3 miles per kWh of juice used.
This is why to be economical an electric car needs a home hub. I can’t have one.
The Abarth plays up to Carlo’s aspirations. Lime green scorpion badges are on its nose, rear flanks, steering wheel, the integrated front headrests and the two alloy foot pedals. The Abarth name is in bold capital letters on the back and the front and in the door sills.
The cabin is fine for two adults in the front. There is a tight scramble to get into the two rear seats. Here, there are Isofix child-seat mountings, handy map pockets, one coat hook, skimpy head room hardly any knee room. Good luck getting out. The seat backs fold down at an angle to extend the boot – where there is a12v socket.
In the front there are plenty of spaces, three usb sockets, a conventional gloves box (no lock) and storage between the seats under a sliding cover. Abarth has more excitement on the way with a 240hp electric model, the most powerful Abarth so far, developed with Stellantis Motorsport. It continues Abarth’s DNA – turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Abarth 500e Convertible Turismo: £41,795; 42.2 kw battery; 150 bhp; Torque 173 lb/ft; Transmission one speed; Top speed 99mph; 0-62mph seven seconds; Economy 3.3m/kWh; Claimed range 150 to 204 miles; CO2 zero; Length: 153 inches/3.9m long; abarthcars.co.uk