WHETHER WE WANT IT OR NOT, Abarth is ushering in a completely new era by debuting the fully electric New Abarth 500e to enrich its model range and entering into Brazil with the successful launch of the New Abarth Pulse for more Abarth than ever. There is no indication whether the 500e will appear in Australian showrooms.
The New Abarth 500e is the most responsive and exciting Abarth in urban driving and the fastest and most enjoyable in suburban driving, so they tell us. The electric architecture performs better than petrol thanks to an improved weight distribution, better torque, and a wider wheelbase.
Electric is the perfect technology to improve driving pleasure and ensure more sprint, greater balance, more stability, and better road holding. In a nutshell, for Abarth, electrification means being more fun and more competitive. If you look at it from another angle, electrification not only means looking for greener solutions, but is also synonymous with pure, distilled, and hardcore fun.
Olivier Francois, FIAT & Abarth Chief Executive Officer and Global Chief Marketing Officer of Stellantis, commented, “Today we are celebrating a milestone in Abarth’s history: we are simultaneously presenting the first electric Abarth in Europe, based on the New 500e, and also launching the brand in Brazil with the introduction of the New Abarth Pulse. The New Abarth 500e is one of the most exciting launches in the history of the brand: a great new addition to the Abarth line-up. I like to think of it as family, so our fanbase will be involved in every step of our electrification journey.” Francois continued: “You may ask ‘why electric?’. Well, basically, performance made us do it: in fact, every change made in the Abarth is about getting the best driving performance. That’s exactly how our founder, Carlo Abarth, always went at it. So, from that point of view, let’s say that nothing has changed: better acceleration, better handling, more fun. And then there’s Abarth’s legendary signature: its sound. All that will be feeding our gear shift to a more global presence: the New Abarth Pulse in Brazil is phase 1, then we’ll see phase 2 when the New Abarth 500e reaches markets beyond Europe, including Japan and Brazil. Put all that together and you get what we call more Abarth than ever!”