Abarth will reveal its first electric vehicle this month.
The Abarth New 500, as the teaser video has been labelled, will be revealed on November 22nd at 2pm CET – or midnight AEDT on the 23rd.
The vehicle depicted is finished in the same colour – Acid Yellow – seen in a leaked image of the Abarth.
While the Twitter teaser reveals the Abarth’s new wheel design, the earlier leaked image gives us a better look at the Abarth’s front end, which appears to share its headlights with the related Fiat 500e but differs in key details.
The grille area continues to be closed off, but the two horizontal chrome lines and oversized 500 badge have been switched out for a simple but still large Abarth wordmark.
The bumper features a honeycomb instead of rectangular pattern on both the closed-off sections and the open air intake, and there’s a front splitter.
Though no photos of the rear have surfaced, we’d expect a similar level of differentiation here with a unique rear bumper.
Peer closer and there appear to be sports seats inside, as one would expect of an Abarth.
While we know Abarth will be an EV-only brand from 2024, we don’t know what the 500e-based hatch will be called or how powerful it will be.
Up-spec 500es feature an electric motor with 87kW of power and 220Nm of torque, mated with a 42kWh lithium-ion battery.
WLTP range is 320km, it can be topped up at a DC fast charger at up to 85kW, and it does the 0-100km/h sprint in 9.0 seconds.
In contrast, the Abarth 595/695 in Australia features a turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with 132kW of power and 250Nm of torque and a claimed 0-100km/h time of either 6.7 or 6.9 seconds depending on the transmission.
Fiat 500e 
The Abarth EV will be quite unique as there’s little in the way of sporty EVs this size. Alpine has a small, sporty electric hatchback in the works, but it’s understood to be a size larger.
The Fiat 500e was revealed all the way back in 2020 but will finally be introduced in Australia during the first half of 2023.
It’s available as a hatchback, convertible, or an unusual four-door hatchback body style with two doors on one side à la the defunct Hyundai Veloster.
Available features include full LED headlights, 15- to 17-inch alloy wheels, “eco” leather trim, electric front seat adjustment, self-dimming rear-view mirror, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, JBL Premium sound system, and a wireless phone charger.
Abarth 695 Competizione
There’s also a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system running Uconnect 5 and featuring wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Safety features extend to adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane centring assist, traffic sign recognition, and ‘Level 2’ self-driving capability.
Abarth’s global line-up now consists solely of fettled versions of the dated combustion-powered 500 following the demise of the Mazda MX-5-derived 124 Spider.
In Australia, the 595 Competizione will be replaced by the almost identical 695 Competizione in the fourth quarter of this year. The few changes comprise a new seat assembly and roof antenna and revised colour palette.
