Stellantis is in the process of transitioning to a full-electric lineup, but it doesn’t plan to phase out any brands along the way, at least not yet. That means its Abarth brand, which today serves purely as a tuner for Fiat, will still be around, even in the electric era.
We likely won’t have to wait long to see the first electric Abarth. Autocar reported on Monday that Abarth is close to announcing a tuned version of the electric Fiat 500.
The latest electric 500 was never offered in the U.S. Launched in 2021, it’s a redesigned version of the 500 that was sold here, and it’s offered purely in electric guise. The most potent version has a 117-hp electric motor powered by a 42-kilowatt-hour battery.
2021 Fiat 500
Any Abarth version should have more power. There should also be chassis and aerodynamic mods, at least if previous Abarth-tuned 500s are any indication.
There will be other modern Abarth vehicles, too. Olivier Francois, who heads both Fiat and Abarth, told Autocar that he expects there to be between one and three Abarth models on sale at any one time.
Another Abarth that might be coming down the pipeline is a production version of 2020’s Fiat Abarth 1000 SP concept. There are rumors the concept, which is based on the discontinued Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, and celebrates the original Fiat Abarth 1000 SP race car of the 1960s, might be put into limited production.
Keyword: Hot Fiat 500 will reportedly be Abarth's first EV