Abarth 500e is a compact electric car that favours zest over utility

The original brace of Abarth-tuned Fiat 500s were excellent in small doses, like certain people, drinks or the more exuberant schools of design. Spirited, buzzy, eager, the Abarth sub-brand managed to capably parlay the qualities of this former race car specialist into Fiat’s diminutive, justly celebrated city car. 

So can Abarth transfer these qualities into the electric age? The 500 itself has had a tricky relationship with electrification, as we noted when we tried out the first ground-up electric version of the Fiat 500. For the time being, Fiat sells both the ‘regular’ 500 – available only as a hybrid – alongside its newer all-electric successor.  

Abarth has now tackled the latter, the first time the company has ever created an all-electric car. In doing so, it has embraced the benefits of EV power – instant acceleration and torque – and attempted to overcome what might be considered the downsides. 

The latter starts with the absence of sound. The main objection to an EV’s ability to drive around in near silence is one of safety. However, as die-hard fans of combustion will never tire of telling you, one of the apparent joys of the traditional car is the engine noise. Without it, they argue, much of the passion, spirit and feel of driving is lost. 

Abarth has taken this loss at face value, and countered with an invention of its own. The Abarth 500e, therefore, comes equipped with a  ‘Sound Generator’, a synthetic reproduction of the unmistakeable – and very prominent – exhaust burble created by previous ICE generations of its cars. 

Abarth claims to have spent two years and 6,000 hours perfecting this function, recording an Abarth petrol engine in various stages of idle and load and then splicing it all together digitally to create an accurate reproduction of what the car would have sounded like had it retained an internal combustion engine. The overall effect is… odd. 

The 500e has the distinction of being the first EV we’ve heard coming before seeing it, thanks to the fact that this burbling roar is broadcast loud and clear to your surroundings. Loud exhaust noise is never the signifier of status or prowess that its creators seem to think it is, so an option to keep it all ‘in car’ would have been nice. Better still is the ability to turn it off completely and pretend it never existed, even though you have to dive deep into the menus to find the kill switch. 

Resplendent in Acid Green, the Abarth 500e – shown here in top Turismo specification – certainly looks the part of a compact sports machine. Aesthetic changes are relatively slight but effective, with a prominent Abarth badge, blanked-out front grille and slightly deeper spoilers. The dark-trimmed, well-equipped interior is a stark contrast to the shouty exterior, and while front-seat passengers will be comfortable, the rear seats are small and the boot space very limited.

Is this a two-seat sporting tourer? Not really. Abarth is pushing its 500e as a sports car for occasional spirited blasts, preferably along twisty back roads. It’s the kind of car that urges you to press on. Such fizzing insistence is all very well with an old-fashioned ICE power train, but the parsimonious mindset of the EV driver – especially in a car with a battery as small as the Abarth's (42.2kWh) – means this constant urge to use more performance is more of a nag than a nudge.

Deploy the performance and the already limited range – 164 miles – will quickly vanish. For those that drive for pleasure, not purpose, then that should suffice. It also highlights struggles that small EVs continue to face, penalised by the inevitable trade-offs required to balance scale, weight and battery size, as demonstrated by the Mini Electric (145 miles max range) and Honda E (137 miles) – the latter is now discontinued as buyers just couldn’t be persuaded. 

Abarth believes that by emphasising performance and personality over practicality, it can escape this trap. And it’s true; if you have a regular route along a short, dynamic stretch of road (with a charging point at either end), the all-electric Abarth 500e might really hit the spot.  

Abarth 500e, available as a hatchback and convertible, from £34,195, AbarthCars.co.uk