Abarth 600e Review 2024

The Abarth 600e is one of the most fun-to-drive electric cars of this type, feeling more agile and alert than the MINI Aceman. It’s quicker, too – even the standard Abarth 600e has more power than the most powerful Aceman. While exterior design appreciation is subjective, we think the Abarth 600e is a looker, too. If those are priorities for you, then happy days – this is a fun machine to drive with all the benefits that come with electric car ownership.

However, when it comes to space – both in the back for passengers and in the boot for luggage – it lags behind the best in the class. If you regularly need lug around people and/or stuff, then check out the Volkswagen ID3 GTX or, if you’re not set on electric power, the petrol-fuelled Ford Puma.

In terms of outright driving fun, the Abarth 600e Scorpionissima is the most appealing thanks to its 40 extra horsepower and fancier interior. It gets a sound generator too – more on that shortly.

However, going for the top-spec model will cost you quite a bit extra. Its limited-edition status may also make it tricky to find, depending on how popular it turns out to be. If you want the full Abarth experience then the Scorpionissima model is definitely the one to go for, but unless you really want the jazzy extra bits and the improved front seats, save your £5000 and go for the standard car, as most of the motorsport-derived performance components are still included.

Other performance-focused and fun-to-drive electric cars of this type include the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce, with which the Abarth 600e shares some components, and the MINI Aceman, as well as the Volkswagen ID.3 GTX, Cupra Born VZ and the MG4 X Power.

The Aceman is more of a “fun for a normal car” than a proper performance model, while the Cupra and VW are pricier than the Abarth. The MG is closer in price and has bags more power, but it doesn’t feel as rounded in terms of the driving experience.

The closest rival in price and performance is the Alfa Romeo, and good as it is, it’s not quite as fun as the Abarth.

The materials used in the Abarth 600e aren’t exactly premium – the plastics are rather hard to the touch – but they’re inoffensive enough. Everything feels solid and well put together.

The Abarth 600e has a 7.0-inch digital instrument display behind the steering wheel and a 10.25-inch infotainment screen. It’s basically the same as the one that you’ll find in the Fiat version of this car, and that’s not a bad thing; it’s easy to use and quick to respond to your touch, although a few features are somewhat buried away in the menus. 

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, and Abarth extras include performance-related gauges, including a G-meter. There are USB A and C sockets in the front and the back to charge devices, and both versions feature a six-speaker sound system.

Space isn’t the Abarth 600e’s strong suit. While up front driver and passenger will have no issues, rear seat space is tight. Legroom is very limited; two adults will fit in the back, but they’ll be complaining of cramp fairly quickly. The middle seat is even more squashed up. There are few practicality additions in the back, either – no door pockets, no pockets in the back of the front seats and no cup-holders. Still, headroom is ok.

The boot isn’t massive, either. OK, it’s a small car, but the capacity behind the back seats is unspectacular compared to rival cars. At 360 litres it’s around 25 litres smaller than the Volkswagen ID.3 GTX, and if you’re looking for non-electric fun cars, it’s considerably smaller than the 456 litres you get in a Ford Puma.

On the plus side, storage up front is pretty decent, with a big covered storage area under the centre of the dashboard, reasonably sized door pockets and a deep area between the front seats with adjustable cup holders. There’s more storage under the centre armrest, too.

The Abarth 600e comes with a 54kWh battery and an electric motor that pushes out 240PS in the standard car and 280PS in the Scorpionissima. It’s pretty difficult to tell the difference between them in terms of acceleration, with only 0.3 seconds between them in the sprint to 62mph. Both will charge at up to 100kW with a suitable fast charger, taking just under 30 minutes to refill the battery from 20% to 80% capacity.

The battery range is unremarkable – up to 207 miles per charge, which when the Cupra Born VZ promises up to 372 miles isn’t particularly impressive.

We’ve yet to spend any decent time on different types of road in the Abarth 600e, but first impressions are that wind and road noise are entirely acceptable, and that the suspension is well tuned to keep at least reasonable lumps and bumps out of the cabin.

We should mention the car’s artificial noise generator. Abarth decided that a performance car should sound like it has an engine, even though it doesn’t have one. So, linked to the accelerator, is essentially a sound system, with speakers under the car booming out an approximation of a performance petrol engine.

Whether or not you like this will be down to you. We didn’t care for it; it doesn’t sound like a real engine, more like someone playing a CD of engine sounds too loudly inside the car. So what’s the point? The fun of driving the Abarth 600e is more than sufficient, and it doesn’t need this kind of gimmick.

The Abarth 600e hasn’t yet been assessed by independent safety organisation EuroNCAP. However, it does come with a solid spread of standard safety equipment, including a system that detects if the driver is getting drowsy as well as automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning and front, side and rear parking sensors, as well as a six airbags and Isofix child-seat mounting points on the outer rear seats and the front passenger seats.

The Scorpionissima model adds adaptive cruise control and a blind-spot warning system.

The Abarth 600e is brand new, so we don’t have any meaningful data about its reliability. But cars from parent company Stellantis has shown very decent reliability in recent years, so we have no real reason to suggest that the Abarth 600e will have particular issues. While a look at the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index highlights Fiat’s poor position in the manufacturer rankings, that’s almost entirely due to the rather old 500, which shares no parts with the 600e.

Electric cars generally tend to have fewer problems than equivalent petrol or diesel models, because there are fewer moving parts to go wrong.

The standard Abarth 600e has an insurance group of 35 out of 50, while the more powerful and expensive Scorpionissima sits in group 36. This means that while insurance premiums won’t exactly be cheap, they won’t be horrendous either. In comparison, the VW ID.3 GTX sits in group 34, so there’s little difference to the main competition.

As an electric vehicle, the Abarth 600e costs nothing in Vehicle Excise Duty at the time of writing, but that will soon change. From 1 April 2025 the rules around taxing a car will be updated, and electric cars will cost the same as petrol and diesel cars. Abarth 600e owners will be liable for the standard annual rate, which is currently £190 but could go up. In addition, cars costing more than £40,000 when new – such as the 600e Scorpionissima – will be liable for the expensive car supplement from the second year of registration until the sixth year. That’ll add at least another £410 a year onto the tax bill.

The range of the Abarth 600e is simple. There are two versions: the standard 600e and the 600e Scorpionissima.

The standard car comes with the 240PS electric motor and rides on 20-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels with a central hubcap designed to look like the wheel nut on a racing car. LED headlights, running lights and rear lights are standard, and there’s a sporty body kit to differentiate it from the Fiat 600e.

Inside there are Sabelt sports seats that adjust manually and are upholstered with fabric, automatic air conditioning and a keyless entry and start system.

Upgrade to the Scorpionissima and as well as 40PS extra in power, you’ll get tinted rear windows and some extra exterior embellishments, as well as a rear-view camera and power folding mirrors and the external sound generator.

Inside, the seats are more racing inspired, with extra lateral support, and they adjust electrically. The boot lid opens electrically, the steering wheel is clad in Alcantara (synthetic suede) and there’s a heated windscreen for icy mornings. The extra safety features mentioned earlier are also included.