Abarth 500 Electric! - I Might Buy One! Eventually.

hello and welcome to the abath 500e this is a car which for me is a bigger deal than people give it credit for because it's the first electric hot hatch that's going to divide the comment section and we do touch on that later on in the video but for me this is the word the first one it's the one where the manufacturers actually come out and said it's a hot hatch it's here for here for one specific purpose to be fun it's not a long distance Cruiser it's not here to Ferry a family of fire around it's just got one job to be well exciting to drive the our bath where if you will that's all I expect so does it give me that clearly this is based on the Fiat 500 but that's not a bad thing we really like that car and highly rate it for what is very unique in EV World a small car and look can you see it's not a crossover it's not an SUV it's a small little hatch brilliant clear difference is the RLS a lot more aggressive front bumper compared to the fit 500 so that is exactly what we're after it looks in these colors there's this one and the acid green one Stand Out is should we say again aggressive Grill the wide bit at the bottom the bath logo on the front rather than the feet of course and there's just a few cosmetic changes it sits lower so this has got different Springs the shocks have been changed and of course it's been designed to be a lot more sporty handling so you've got just a moss squat aggressive slightly wider appearance so it fits the bill given what they've had to work with it's loud enough without going too far for me you'll see it coming don't get me wrong but that's partly due to the color I just think they've got that nice combination of Fiat 500 cuteness with a bit of puncher in your face sort of look this one is its most robust angle the kind of wide arch rear three door of course Wide Doors very familiar with the Fiat 500 quite low down relative again to the camera it's based on I just think it's got a very nice stance and for the first time on our bath 18 inch wheels as an option you got the scorpion logo which you should be familiar with with the lightning bolt through it which is the new one for obviously their electric range and you've got a little spoiler going on and it's just again it's like a Fiat 500 dialed up it looks good anywhere it's one of those classless cars again Posh house nuts Posh house bigger State country estate like this it just seems to fit everywhere and for me it's just sticky obviously at the back for any above purists out there there's no quad exhausts or anything like that clearly it's electric but they've done what they can it's very similar other than maybe they are bath badge to the 500 once more the boot exactly the same as the previous 500 surprisingly big but not massive again it's a small City car so I'm not sure what people expect sometimes charging pretty much the same as the fit 500 you've got 85 kilowatts ccs of course which I'd like it to be above 100 but I guess on the battery this size you can just about get away with it right on the inside you will see it's very familiar to the Fiat 500 once again because it's the same car essentially so the steering wheel on this top spec version it's got like an Alcantara feel you've got some hardware and plastic again that you might be familiar with the previous one do have this lovely double stitching which is around the cabin I'll show you that in a second and the standard switch gear that most people have already seen on the other cast so if I just turn that on there getting a bit of a jingle not sure why this here is very clear to see you can affect what it does by the steering wheel I won't go through everything but effectively it's a virtual cockpit and it gives you lots of information over 10 inch infotainment system here which is okay I mean the buttons are a little small to you so when you're bouncing around on a road it is quite difficult to get the right spot but it's reasonably quick and I've seen better but it could do car play in the usual stuff so that pretty much covers all bases all the actual manual buttons for the uh climate control buttons actual buttons instead of doing it through there and instead of a gear lever you've got to drive Park reverse neutral sports mode or rather scorpion track mode armrest moves forwards and backwards it does feel quite nice and if you lift it up you got some more storage that goes down there so it's quite deep some closed storage that's good down here you've got again more more storage goes all the way down with two different USB types and the 12 volt adapter and you can't close it off as well glove box what do you think well we kind of know because we've done the 500. it's full it's not too bad at least it is full width yeah here on this particular version you have wireless charging for your phone press that button to open the door so there's no actual you know door handle per se although there is a manual release just in case there's an electrical fault and the seats this is pickle highlight amazing look at them again High spec version so they're not standard but I just I like this yeah you'd want to go for these wouldn't you and the scorpion logo of course the a bath one that's the Scorpion everywhere in here isn't it yeah you've got it all over the place little again little Easter eggs you got the sunroof on this which makes it feel much brighter weirdly so than even the convertible version because the convertible is all black unless you have the roof open which means when it's raining you're in a very dark environment it's nice to like this I think you do have some cheap Plastics around your hardware and Plastics again around here but I'm not really expecting anything else generally what you're touching most of the time is of a good quality that feels beautiful that's all right yep the seats are really really nice again do you know what it's not and that an adult's position but not for a tall six foot two three years you know what it's not adults in the back to put it that way yeah there's kids in the back which again I kind of think that's expected from a Fiat 500. a bath have put audio on the outside so think of it like the piped in order you see on lots of cars and Harry's just gonna demonstrate it for us so this is just on my lapel mic is revving it now so we all love that some of you will hate it so driving around you've got a rumble that's at least speed okay it's okay but when you put your foot down a little bit now obviously there's a lot of wind noise probably overshadowing that so let's put the windows up it's a drone isn't it on the motorway that's going to get very annoying if whoever hits this and I think it'll get a lot of stick work I think it will yeah you just leave it off and I spent two years developing this six thousand hours yeah and that is essentially using our bath engine noises yeah not just problems they've recorded it and put it in certain bits synthesized they are whatever they need to do but the thing is you get synthesized noise on most cat sports cars now even like everything through the speakers don't they yeah so internally this is quite ordinary it's not on you yeah they've just done it externally yeah the last step after drove the one thing that this does better than that is that I feel like I'm lower down in the car the seats are so much more comfortably you're quite high up in the uh in the air baths the petrol ones if you like I felt like I was perched on the camera yeah so the seating positions the steering's very very pointy isn't it yeah very dirty there's quite a bit of feel as well you know I think it has the Luxor doesn't it this has got to be the first proper hot hatch and I'll say it proper because the mini could be clusters one but doesn't particularly look like should we do that now then let's get that what is an electric hot hatch have we had one yet I wouldn't say we've had a hot hatch what about the BMW i3s I don't think it's a hot hatchback though it doesn't is it too expensive to be a hot hatch because the general tend to be it should be more affordable and if it was still sold today it'd been the high 40s it's a hatch it's got It's a sportier version than the I3 tick tick tick yeah it's quick mini electric hot hatch or not well do you know I would have said yes but I've been having obviously we've had a chat before this I would say no because it it's not not the works is it you look at it when we see all the mini electric one at Goodwood when they put the GP throughout the body kit yeah look it look it as well it needs to have it can be subtle but it needs to have something where you got flared arches it just needs that that sets it apart which you know not everybody would see but enough people who know would know this is going to divide the comments section so having an EV that already that would be classified as a hot hatch the minute for me just doesn't make it based on right there [Music] I mean it handles the low weight of the batteries are actually helping in some respects respect you can feel the weight compared to the standard abath that yeah you can yeah the as in the petrol level the strange thing is with the sound it keeps making me think I'm doing a different speed I get a bit of if anything the sound has given me a bit of a disconnect from what the car's doing rather than pulling me in it's pushing me away I'm thinking I'm I'm doing a different speed so yeah I think I'd rather have just just the sound of what the car makes without that well I first saw how much power this had I had reservations about it being a hot hatch but yeah driving it but yeah 180 I think you see but the the fun yeah the fun yeah which I think that's that's what it retains like the mini door the mini Returns the the feeling of being a mini yes but it just doesn't look like it goes to go through a few specs let's do that I've got them written down from the presentation 34 just over 34 Grand the our bath bit essentially starts at and it goes all the way up to nearly just of 42 for the top spec let's not pretend that's cheap daddy's not cheap but however pretty unique it is and they did say this is essentially aimed at more affluent people yeah premium Market you know what a mini buyer mini electric stats at 32 and a half at the moment for level two and I think I'd have I'd have this Honda e was touted as a bit of a premium rival but I won't class that as a hot hatch or anything no no no but yeah I could see why they would because it's in that similar pricing bracket there's not much around it so that's that no no no and uh of course the menu we've already mentioned what about the mg4 when the dual motor comes out the X power mg4 so the cowboy sign right now is about three and a half Grand four yards mg4x power oh wow with 430 brake horsepower it does depend how how good that is it might just be a lot of power and now that's it for me though that's not a hot hatch it's too powerful for that Supercar from 10 20 years ago so that for me is a I don't know super hatch what's the next thing is it's Golf R instead of Golf GTI yeah straight ahead right so it's got 152 brick horsepower the standard higher powered feet 500 has about 112 13. so it is enough for me 235 newton meters of torque which is where the engineer acceleration feels very torquey yep um and it's got a much close to 50 50 weight distribution compared to the 500 and the our baths but then you've got that extra I think it's about 350 kilogram ish weight over their baths which it it you can see it feels heavy but not not stupid yeah it's one of those where it's the Honda e loved it would have one but not at that price now the Honduras are coming down a bit you can get one for 18 and a half that's like two or three year old it's almost so again on the used Market I'm gonna absolutely be keeping my eye on these things ready go for it oh seem to have managed that Comfort sporting perfectly I mean I'm not uncomfortable at all whereas some sporty cars can be a bit jarring it still seems to be fine at lower speeds as well where some cars that you have to go to speed to actually get I mean it's a bit these roads are really loud it's actually cool looking quite well in the brakes yeah more than adequate it's very predictable and it gives you a lot gives you a lot quite a bit of Confidence from the you know from the very start doesn't it maybe that's the best descriptor for it it's so predictable so you can feel like confident in pushing it forward you know the thing is because it hasn't got 300 horsepower you can constantly put your foot to the floor and even if it doesn't hit jiggle a little bit it's all manageable now I ended up in that hedge or something it's not dangerous I think I say that most people run out of talent before the car that's it yeah but with this you're not yeah yeah you're not going to are you unless you're really really silly fun without being dangerous which is exactly what you kind of want out of a team the in-ear acceleration is where it's happened yeah yeah it's that talk just fires you out doesn't it and it's quick around I can't remember the name of the track now done the 695 yeah he's with you like it or not it's got less power more weight and it's quicker does it Rob you of pleasure lack of manual gearbox in a modern I think so I think that it does it does it you do miss that and I dare say I do miss the engine though yeah proper one but I do find that it's that much fun that you don't notice it as much as other cars look at that 30. it's honestly quite pins you back in the passenger seat you feel it a lot more than that feels quicker than 150 horsepower yeah quite frankly that's one thing that a lot of EVS suffer from in it as soon as you get above 50 maybe 60 you run out of puff yeah as this is still the way around it's still got us plenty of pork hasn't it yeah although it only goes up to 97.98 miles per hour top speed which is yeah it does take you one doesn't it I'm behind this guy I want to overtake him yeah this will resonate with a lot of people out there you'd be at a sneak this past your partner whichever whether it's male or female the person who's not a car person yep I'd be a Snickers past Lana because it's small it's cute it's easy to drive you can put it in normal mods yeah it's a Fiat 500 essentially yeah um and then I can jump in and have a bit of fun you can it's a great daily I this is this as a as a daily would be perfect I'm putting this on my watch list for you for the future two three years time definitely would you say you'd have to go for the Spectrum though I think we'd have to go for the is it to lose more there is more yeah which comes with the Alcantara Dash that makes it feel more special and the Alcantara seats steering wheel JBL sound system heated seats the purest work like it will the I guarantee that I don't but I don't think they could ever the thing is it the world is changing yeah yeah you're not going to appeal to those people it's because it's and they have tried to with the engine though but I don't think you're gonna we're a Dying Breed oh yeah so 120 240 miles I think that's realistically what you're going to see outfit so you're looking at it 30 I mean the official range is like 35 miles less I believe than the 500 is best on yeah there's a roughly 11 000 pound difference between this and the cheapest our bath so the cheapest of this cheapest bath that's a that's a big jump yeah yeah but I would argue that this is more comfortable yeah more practical it's probably slightly bigger the seat positions better if you can charge at home which is a big caveat a substantially cheaper to run massively you don't have to have certain uh how should I put this delicately reliability worries no there's not much there's nothing to go wrong it will probably go down as much as the our baths do so ultimately it's going to be worth a lot more than the three-year-old equivalent so I know you're spending more but are you getting it back most of it back at the end I think you'll be getting it's it's the trading I think you're gonna lose as much money as you do on the the petrol which is why we keep saying on the used Market it's gonna be a cracker it is absolute cracker we always say do we what do they say you're getting what do you get where's the disappointment or what do you think you're getting more than you expect not buying this if you've got three kids and two dogs no and you're not doing long Journeys either no so if you bought this whether it's used on you for me your expectation is set yeah is it above that or lower than that I think it's a slightly above yeah it's impressed to one side I think yeah good personality personality is important to me yeah it will be to a lot but if you don't want a car with personality you get the 500 standard you do and even that though that wasn't a bad Drive interestingly enough though the specked versions of the standard 500 yeah are the same price as the entry level one of this yeah yeah second left I think I would go for the entry level one of these over the Spectrum for your 500 yeah do you know what else exceeds expectations actually weren't mentioned go for it being a member on this channel it does yeah 99p you get these videos on Sunday instead of Friday wow and the second Channel as well called driving home with the podcast on that channel and behind the scenes videos such as this event yeah it's going to see behind the scenes yep there you go it's a free Channel go and subscribe subscribe so thanks for watching guys isn't it I'm pushing it to it nice you know not even to its limits but I'm having fun so uh thanks for watching see you soon see you later bye bye

Channel: Electric Vehicle Man

Views: 27,049

Keywords: abarth 500e, abrth, 500electric, Cars, electric car, car reveiw, car review, fiat 500, fiat500, 500e

Id: -Ya6yWohTW4

Length: 18min 50sec (1130 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 21 2023