Abarth 600e review: from sensible Fiat roots to electric hot hatch thrills

A lot has been said about platform sharing watering down the personality of most new cars at the moment. Take the Fiat 600, for example. It's built around the same frame as a Jeep Avenger and, if you drive the two cars side by side, you'll quickly notice.

That's not to say either car is mundane, of course, but when you realise a car that is in no way mundane at all, the Alfa Junior, gives the same quick impression, you begin to realise that this profitable but pedestrian approach to mass-market manufacturing does remove a lot of joy from the car-buying process.

That said, it's always worth celebrating the sheer achievement of seeing a new car that's done more than enough to free itself from the shackles of its bloodline and stack up to be a genuinely exciting proposition. Enter the Abarth 600e.

Abarth has taken the likeable but forgettable Fiat 600 and treated it to some of its textbook lunacy. The Stellantis ingredients are still there, but they've been drenched in a vindaloo sauce. And it's resulted in something truly excellent.

Yes, the Abarth 600e is fully electric, and I know that won't please anything, but this is wading into the same battlefield as the Cupra Born and the Hyundai Ioniq 5N - and you've got to admit they're both incredibly exciting cars when you set your EV prejudices aside.

Is it as good as those two? No, to be honest it's not. Is it an exciting hot hatch? Absolutely.

All the bits we've come to love from Abarth are there. Wild styling tweaks, ostentatious bucket seats, Alcantara bits, bright colours, quirky puns, and a stiff, tight setup, are all present and correct.

There might be plenty of reminders that it's just a breathed on 600e, but breathing on mundane cars and making them exciting is exactly what Abarth does well. And it's evident in abundance here.

There are problems to overcome. Range is a bit on the weak side. Its 54kWh battery is said to manage 207 miles, but you'd struggle to make that in the real world, especially if you get a bit trigger happy with the driving modes.

Space in the back is a bit tight, selecting gears with buttons isn't fun, and even in a lurid colour, the exterior styling does lack a bit of drama.

But in just about every other way, it's brilliant. It has plenty of Abarth silliness, from the firm ride that allows you to throw its weight around so easily, to the sound generator on the top Scorpionissima model, it's just wonderfully playful. Such a big departure from the 600 on which it's based.

There are two versions; a standard model with 235bhp and that Scorpionissima with its frankly quite necessary 278bhp.

The standard Abarth 600e starts at £36,985 and the Scorpionissima falls quite conveniently under the tax-troubling £40k mark at £38,885. Standard trim is generous, and you've got a wide network of dealers to pester.

Abarth certainly isn't quiet about the fact this is the most powerful model it's ever made, but if you can park your EV scepticism for long enough and look past the run-of-the-mill roots, I'd say this is also one of the best Abarths.