Abarth 500e

Hot version of Fiat's electric hatchback gets racier looks, more performance and a bigger price tag On sale Now Price from £34,195

- Neil Winn

WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING at is the most significant hot hatch since the Simca 1100TI kick-started the genre back in 1973. It's called the Abarth 500e and it's arguably the world's first proper electric hot hatch.

We say 'arguably because Spanish brand Cupra would very much like you to think its sporty-looking Born is a hot hatch, but in reality it's little more than a sportier-looking Volkswagen ID 3. And that's fine if you're in the market for a stylish hatchback, but the 500e has a bigger point to prove. Chiefly, it seeks to convince driving enthusiasts that electric cars can be just as fun as their petrol-powered counterparts.

To help it achieve that aim, the 500e has a more muscular motor than the one found in the Fiat 500 Electric on which it's based; power is up from 117bhp to 153bhp. That's enough for the 500e to hit 62mph from rest in 7.0sec marginally quicker than the petrol-powered Abarth 595 (7.3sec) and only a little slower than the range-topping 695 (6.7sec).

Perhaps more importantly, though, from 25-37mph - the kind of speeds that matter in the city - the 500e is a second quicker than the 695, thanks to the electric motor's instantaneous grunt. What's more, the 500e should have no trouble outhandling its stablemates, thanks to wider underpinnings, uprated brakes front and rear (with discs all round, unlike the Fiat 500) and a bespoke set of grippy Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres