A lot of the appeal of the old Abarth however, was in its style. Does the new car carry on that legacy? Well it's certainly an Abarth – with the script and badge emblazoned across the front. The honeycomb-punched vents down below are sporty, as is the metallic effect splitter element and diffuser. All that said, it doesn’t give off as aggressive an attitude of the old Abarth, which was a key part of that car’s appeal.
On the inside, there are plenty of reminders that this is the sporty one. The Scorpion on the wheel and in the dials, and the Abarth script in the infotainment are dead giveaways, as are the steering wheel’s Alcantara appointment and centre stripe. The Alcantara embossed dash matches the design on the sportier seats, too.
It’s claimed this 500e is “more Abarth than ever”, which is a tall claim. So what about performance? Given the potential of electric power, the Abarth sports some shall we say, modest figures, more in keeping with its predecessor. That 155PS (114kW) and 235Nm (173lb ft) makes for a seven-second 0-62mph time.