Should you buy one?

As a city car with a bit of added poke and pizzazz, the Abarth 500e works well. There’s a zany selection of colours, lots of standard kit and a definite injection of added fun compared with the standard Fiat 500 Electric.

We can’t ignore the limited driving range and practicality, though. The Abarth’s eager-puppy nature makes it easy to overlook these more pragmatic areas initially, but the compromises required may make it a tough choice as your only car. And as a city runabout or second vehicle, it’s quite expensive.

Traditional pistonheads looking for their first electric hot hatch will be left wanting a bit too. While responsive at low speeds this isn’t a particularly quick car, and compared with the best petrol hot hatchbacks it’s not particularly exciting to drive either.

What we like

The Abarth 500e certainly isn’t short of personality. It also offers a pleasant EV driving experience and does manage to capture some of that Abarth spirit, even if it isn’t quite a joyful as the petrol models.

What we don’t like

It’s still only a warm hatch, not a properly hot one. We wish the interior was a little more exciting, and the sound generator a little less annoying. But it’s the limited driving range that really keeps us from fully recommending you buy one of these.