Abarth 500e 2024 Review | Goodwood Test

Of all the brands you’d expect to struggle through this gentle transition from petrol to electric and hydrogen power, you’d have to say Abarth was one of those that you’d put pretty high on the list. A company that for the longest time has made its name from building slightly silly, but utterly hilarious cars that make more noise than they have any right to.

There’s plenty of heritage to that famous scorpion badge, the racing car manufacturer turned Fiat tuner has a long history of building and developing cars for the likes of Osella and Lancia, including the 037 Group B machine, and even a version of the Porsche 356.

In more recent years, however, particularly here in the UK, the brand is most well known for its work on the Fiat 500, with the Abarth 595 and 695, and now, the Abarth 500e.

There are two ways of looking at the Abarth 500e. You could say that EVs like this are coming in and taking our hot hatches, or, alternatively, you could be happy that the fun is coming with us towards an unknown and rapidly approaching future. It’s certainly different, but in fewer ways than you might think, and that’s not to say in a bad way either.

The Abarth 500e is of course based primarily on the new electric version of the Fiat 500. It carries over much of the fundamental architecture and design, so what you see on the outside is broadly recycled aside from some more aggressive styling around the front bumper and a hint of a diffuser at the rear.

Being loud and proud has always been a key facet of the Abarth 500, and that fact is not lost on this first of a new era of electric variants. There are a handful of paint colours available, among them Acid Green, Adrenaline Red and Poison Blue. Our test model came in green, and aside from being wonderfully garish, it fits the character of the car perfectly. If you’re too scared to go bold, this probably isn’t the car for you.

This is where, if you’ve driven the petrol Abarth 500 before, the major changes start to show themselves. The 500e is of course powered by an electric motor, which delivers 152PS (118kW) and 235Nm (173lb ft) or torque to the front wheels. That’s slightly less power than you get in the petrol 595, but with the more instant torque and linear delivery through a single gear 0-62mph is achieved in a sprightly 7.0 seconds – quicker than all but the most powerful 595s.

This is where the 500e threatens to be more fun than the petrol 595, because the performance away from junctions and traffic lights cannot help but induce a smile, and ultimately, that’s all this car is about. It’s small, it’s fun, it’s supposed to be a laugh.

Considering this is now an EV, it doesn’t feel outrageously heavy from behind the wheel either. The battery is positioned in the floor, which keeps the additional weight (it weighs 1,410kg, around 400kg more than the petrol 595) from affecting the handling too much. Turn in is still sharp, and the car manages to stay solidly on course through the turn. Being front wheel drive, understeer is the major hurdle to overcome, but it’s mostly manageable with some gentle play on the throttle pedal.

The lack of weight (relative to other EVs) is something of a double-edged sword, because it’s been made possible by the use of a tiny 42.2kWh battery, which highlights perhaps admirably what Abarth is trying to do with this car. While the performance benefits, it means driving range is limited to just 157 miles. A less generous estimate would see you charging this car every 110-120 miles or so. Food for thought.

You’ll need to have your wits about you if you start trying to balance the power however, because the regen in Turismo or Scorpion Street modes is abrupt. The slightest lift will see your head lurch forward, and we found ourselves switching to Scorpion Track mode, which reduces the regen levels, when on longer cruises. The single pedal driving is intuitive enough for short blasts through town, though.

The crashy ride of petrol Abarth 595s doesn’t seem to have been transferred to this electric 500e. In fact, the damping is one of the bigger triumphs of driving this car. It’s comfortable for the most part, but never so soft as to make the ride feel detached. You get plenty of feedback through the steering wheel for what is a generally engaging drive.

It’s worth bearing in mind the driving position, which does hold the 500e’s driver engagement to ransom somewhat. The upright seating is akin to driving a van. You’ll find yourself checking the seat adjuster to make sure it’s definitely as low as it’ll go. This isn’t a new thing for Abarth, but with the addition of a battery under the seats it feels magnified here.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of this car is the feel of the interior. The layout is fine, everything is well positioned and the dashboard actually looks great from a distance, there’s even buttons for the climate control. But the quality is all wrong. The line of buttons, appreciated though they are, look and feel low rent, while the central console features a couple of horribly cheap switches for the drive modes.

It's a shame, because aside from the major touch points, the rest of the cabin is far more appealing. The seats are comfortable and supportive, and the steering wheel, lined with leather and Alcantara, feels great in the hands. The Alcantara lining on the dash gives off a racing car feel which fits so perfectly in this car.

The rear seats are cramped, unsurprisingly, but we found you can fit a child seat in the back if you move the front passenger seat forward as far as it will go. That being said, boot space is limited to 185 litres with the rear bench in place, so good luck getting the pushchair in. You can fold that rear bench down to up a whopping 550 litres, though, and there’s no doubt this car works far better in our makeshift two-seat coupe spec.

There’s only one feature worth talking about here, and that’s Abarth’s synthesised engine noise. A recording of the Record Monza exhaust system that can be fitted to 595s and 695s has been painstakingly created and can be played out of an exterior speaker positioned roughly where the exhaust would be underneath the car. The sound itself is actually not too bad, it’s not as tragic as it might seem, and actually when you’re pootling around town it is pretty authentic.

The problem comes when you get up to speed, because what the sound recorders haven’t done is record the engine changing gear. So much like the single speed transmission in the electric 500e, the synthesised exhaust note will just keep on climbing the revs. If you’ve never driven along a motorway at 70 miles an hour in first gear, you’ll get an idea of what it sounds like if you drive the 500e with the engine noise on. Safe to say we got into the habit of turning it off if we knew we’d be travelling beyond 40mph.

Aside from the 500e’s party trick, other features include the 10.25-inch touchscreen, which has a crisp enough display, but never quite felt like it was responding to our inputs in the way we expected. Phone connectivity is easy enough to engage, although the engine noise setting is hidden away in a separate settings menu within the seven-inch instrument cluster, which seems an odd choice.

So, what have we got here then? Perhaps an indictment of what we can expect from the first wave of fun and exciting small electric cars. Abarth has managed quite successfully to create a zero-emission super mini with peppy performance and a smile-inducing drive.

This car is as fun to drive as any of the 595s that have come before it, but you do have to soak up some of the caveats. The synthesised engine noise, while not bad, is still no replacement for the real thing.

In many ways, the Abarth 500 remains just as big a compromise as it ever has. It’s never going to be perfect, but we can at least rest easy knowing there will still be a silly little hot hatch on sale should we feel the need for an impulsive, rebellious purchase.