Fiat performance brand’s first UK-bound SUV is also its most powerful car ever – but is it a true performance EV?
The new Abarth 600e proves that even a brand you would associate with small, feisty Fiat 500-based runabouts isn’t immune to electric crossovers.But this entry into one very saturated market has allowed Abarth to explore new heights of performance and attempt to prove that cars like this can still be fun performance machines.To help it with this, the 600e has been given a brand new platform, a motorsport-developed electric motor, bespoke Michelin tyres, a mechanical limited-slip differential and the most powerful drivetrain ever fitted to an Abarth road car.It’s certainly going to need all of those to stand a chance against the establishment. Electric competitors like the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce, MG 4 XPower and Volkswagen ID 3 GTX and the petrol-engined Ford Puma ST each have their own unique selling point, whether that be a surprisingly comprehensive dynamic flourish, big performance for a low price or everyday usability. Where does the 600e fit in, then? Is it every bit the duplicitous track-slaying performer its maker says it is, or is it a bright-green mush of ill-fitting components from the Stellantis parts bin? Let’s find out.The Abarth 600e range at a glanceYou can have the 600e in one of two specifications: Turismo or Scorpionissima.The Turismo makes use of a 237bhp, front-mounted, separately excited electric motor developed in-house, with a 54kWh battery pack good for a range of 207 miles. The Scorpionissima is a special edition, of which 1949 examples will be made to recognise Abarth’s founding year. It gets the 276bhp motor from the Junior Veloce, cutting the 0-62mph time from 6.2sec to 5.9sec.It also comes with the sound generator (designed to mimic the noise of a combustion engine) introduced on the Abarth 500e hot hatch.As it will be the best seller, the Turismo will be the focus of this review.On the outside, every car comes with 20in alloys and a more aggressive bodykit, while inside you get a 10.25in infotainment system, a 7.0in digital instrumentation display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a voice assistant with ChatGPT.Abarth’s own sat-nav system is standard on the Scorpionissima but optional on the Turismo.
