Hot all-electric Abarth 500 on way  

Abarth is primed to launch a new performance variant of the all-electric Fiat 500 hatch that could be on sale as soon as next year.
 
When it arrives, the 2023 Abarth 500 will offer a healthy power upgrade on the regular battery-electric 500 and come with far sharper handling.
 
Fiat CEO Olivier Francois told UK outlet Auto Express that the all-new Abarth hatch will feature "more extrovert" looks compared to the regular Fiat hatch, adding "Abarth is always a little bit over the top, with spoilers and wheels".
 

Francois didn't reveal how much of a power boost the Abarth 500 would pack, but the rumour is the Italian performance division will gift it with almost double the 87kW currently produced by the Fiat 500 EV in an effort to match the forthcoming all-electric next-gen Renault 5-based Alpine A5 that's expected to pack at least 160kW.
 
There's also no word if the Abarth will keep the standard car's 42kWh battery, but if it does expect the big wheels and aggressive body kit to sap the 320km the small Fiat can cover between top-ups.
 
Among the challenges faced by Abarth engineers is whether or not to inject a fake combustion-engined soundtrack into the near-silent Abarth 500.
 

One solution could be to accentuate the noise made by its electric motor and transmission, or mimic a Formula E racer.
 
Said Francois: "Do you want to put a super Abarth-ish sound or we can also invent a kind of Formula E sound that’s very loud?"
 
With news that the Abarth 500 EV will land in 2023, it's not known whether the ageing Abarth 595 will continue.
 
Once the 500 EV is introduced, Abarth will launch a second Fiat-based model in 2025 that will also be all-electric.

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