In May, Abarth – the performance brand of Italian car giant Fiat – announced that its 500e Scorpionissima edition will be making its way down to Australia later this year. And it seems the first car has arrived for engineering evaluation and testing.
The “angry”-looking electric hatchback was spotted at a charging site in Melbourne, and images were first shared by Mark T on an EV Facebook page.Ā The car was Acid Green, the best known Abarth colour.
The charge port can also be spotted in one of the pictures which is located at the right-hand side of the rear end. There is also a scorpion logo next to the driverās door that reminds the driver every time they get in the car that itās not just a standard Fiat 500e.
On the back of this sighting, a few fans reacted to this post with what they thought of the new electric Abarth. āIf it’s anything like other abaths it will handle well,ā one said.
Others commented on its look, particularly the slightly painted sections on the top end of the headlights. āItās got eyebrows š¤£,ā another said
At the announcement of this modelās arrival earlier this year, Fiat Australia made it clear that this is the most responsive and exciting Abarth ever produced.Ā
With that as a teaser, it also noted that just 219 units would be making it to Australian shores, making it a very limited edition model. Each car owner will be offered with a digital certificate of authenticity to highlight the uniqueness of this model.
This Abarth 500e will be coming with a front-wheel-drive powertrain and the motor will produce a maximum of 114 kW along with a peak torque of 235 Nm. This will propel the electric hatch to 100 km/h from a standstill in just 7 seconds.
Given the focus on the driver and the warm-hatch performance on offer,Ā three driving modes will be available on Australian roads. These include
- Tourismo
- Scorpion Street
- Scorpion Track mode
The excitement of driving with this powertrain is fed by a 42 kWh battery pack. It can be DC fast charged with speeds of up to 85 kW. This pack can also deliver up to 252 km of range.
More information will be released on pricing and delivery timelines closer to the launch.
The electric hatch market is finally starting to develop in Australia, although not always at the performance level.
It was kicked off by the launch of Cupra Born at the end of last year.Ā Since then, MG is expected to launch the MG4 X-Power along with BYD also offering a limited edition Dolphin Sport edition in 2024.Ā
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.