Abarth 500 Electric: More Powerful Than the Gasoline Version?

Building on the success recipes of the new Fiat 500, but adding a touch of madness, the Abarth 500e aims to write a more virtuous chapter for the scorpion brand.

Scorpion enthusiasts are buzzing with excitement. Their favorite sporty yogurt pot is undergoing a transformation. Not because it has fallen into radioactive mix (which might explain its bright acid green color), but rather because it replaces its fierce 4-cylinder gasoline engine with a more conventional electric motor, which also emits much less CO2. So it’s better for the planet (at least in the short term), it isn’t subject to certain market taxes, and according to Abarth, it remains a true Abarth. Moreover, for those who cannot dissociate an Abarth from its intoxicating raucous sound characteristic, the manufacturer announces that the brand’s sound generator should quite faithfully reproduce the music of the thermal engine. We’re eager to see and hear it!

Technically, the platform is derived from that of the new Fiat 500, with the key difference that the electric motor now develops 155 horsepower (compared to 118 hp), but strangely enough, it is paired with a battery of the same capacity (42 kWh gross), which according to Abarth guarantees a theoretical range of 320 km under WLTP standards.

Three Abarth personalization modes

If we compare it with the comparable thermal new Fiat 500, quite bourgeois, the Abarth 500e benefits from a slight increase in wheelbase and track width, and should enjoy a better weight distribution between the front and rear axles.

Finally, exterior styling is slightly evolved with dedicated front bumpers and side skirts, a gray rear diffuser, specific wheels, and the inevitable Abarth stickers.

Read also: The Abarth 500 electric already unveiled