Watch out for MG4 and Cupra Born! The 2024 Abarth 500e is about to find dealers and is sold to compete! – Car News

The Cupra Born finally has an electric hatch rival!

The Abarth 500e will hit Australian showrooms in late 2023 and will be offered in a limited edition ‘Scorpionissima’ grade initially. Once they sell it, it will be available in the regular Turismo trim from early 2024 onwards.

There will be 219 examples of the Scorpionissima offered to Australian buyers.

Both grades will be offered exclusively – so no top-ends – and prices start at $58,900, including on-road costs, for the Turismo, rising to $60,500 for the Scorpionissima.

The closest rival is the Cupra Born which is priced from $59,990, before on-road costs, but other electric hatches that can be bought include the MG4 77kW (from $55,990) or the Mini Electric Hatch (from $64,975). .

Powering the 500e is a 114kW/235Nm electric motor driving the front wheels, and a 42kWh lithium-ion battery, both using a 400-volt electric architecture.

The maximum driving range is 252km and the energy consumption on the WLTP cycle is 17kWh/100km. That’s a far cry from Born’s 511km range.

The battery is connected to an 85kW DC charging system, and the Italian brand says that it makes a distance of 40 kilometers available in five minutes, and 80 percent of the range in 35 minutes.

Standard equipment includes 18-inch diamond-cut titanium alloy wheels, Alcantara trim and sports seats, and a choice of five colors – Antidote White, Venom Black, Adrenaline Red, and new hues, Acid Green and Poison Blue.

Also standard is the ‘Abarth Sound Generator’ which produces the sound of a petrol engine Abarth engine.