‘EVs need to be fun, not just fast’: Abarth boss on putting the spark into ‘hot’ EVs

Abarth UK’s product head, Pietro Orsatti, explains why big horsepower is no longer the be-all and end-all when it comes to driver-focused electric vehicles, and reveals what the Italian performance brand is doing to win over its die-hard petrolhead fan-base.

Ahead of its launch in mid-March this year, Abarth made much of its 600e Scorpionissima being the most powerful car it has ever made since the company was founded by its namesake, Carlo Abarth, back in 1949. And for good reason, too. Given Abarth has fully-committed to an all-electric future, its reputation for creating sweet-handling, slightly-shouty, lightweight and affordable performance cars sits squarely on the 600e Scorpionissima’s shoulders.

That’s because the Abarth crowd tends to be a fiercely loyal bunch. Bringing them over to the EV world will be no easy task. They’re a fandom chasing the Italian sense of drama, occasion, and supercar-killing theatrics that are associated with their brand’s history.

Moreover, it’s no secret that the 600e Scorpionissima’s B-SUV segment is… somewhat po-faced, and rivals are rather thin on the ground. While alternatives such the Volkswagen ID.3 GTX and MG4 X-Power offer significantly more electric horses – 322bhp and 429bhp respectively – than the Scorp’s 276bhp, they’re not exactly engaging drives.

What Abarth has set out to do with its halo car, then, is build a crossover that handles like a hot hatch, while living up to its historic ‘create a sweet chassis first, then add the right amount of power’ approach of doing things.

Despite the task faced by the 600e Scorpionissima, Abarth UK’s head of product, Pietro Orsatti, believes that the boys and girls at the brand’s Turin HQ can fully deliver on their brief.

“It would have been easy for us to slap a load of our electric scorpion logos over the car, give it more power than it can handle, and call it a ‘performance’ version,” he explains to EV Powered during the Scorpionissima’s launch day. “We haven’t been cynical about this, though.

“We’ve looked through our history books, and really considered what our founder, Carlo Abarth, would have done, and that is to take the latest technologies we have and apply them to our cars to make them successful and fast.”

While the Abarth 600e Scorpionissima shares Stellantis’ bespoke electric eCMP platform with its sister car, the Fiat 600e, that’s where the mechanical similarities end.

“I think the 600e Scorpionissima could be a groundbreaker in the EV world, because it’s one of the first EVs that’s been designed to have just the right amount of chassis improvements paired with the right amount of power,” Orsatti continues. “We have a stiffer suspension that builds on our rallying heritage, and a rear suspension with a stiffer rollbar.”

These aren’t the only two nods to Abarth’s rich motorsport history. A hydraulic bump stop causes it to jiggle and crash around like a rally car. A higher driver’s seat position makes the 600e Scorpionissima prime Ouninpohja material.

Meanwhile, an Alcantara-shod two-spoke sports steering wheel is a nod to the Abarth 131; don’t forget, the 131 car that won the WRC manufacturer’s title in 1977, ‘78, and ‘80. It also claimed the driver’s championship in 1978 in the hands of Markku Alén, while Walter Röhrl followed it up with another two seasons later.

The Scorpionissima’s party piece, however, is not its WRC dogwhistles or stiffened electrical underpinnings. Instead, the Turin crowd have given its halo car a Torsen limited slip differential that works in tandem with the chassis tweaks and hydraulic suspension to create a “proper Abarth feel”.

After spending some time on a track with the car and swiftly learning I am no performance driving savant, I am very happy to confirm that the Abarth’s LSD will let you properly lean on its chassis and power. You can have a heap of fun, but it’ll keep you out of trouble. If anything, the ‘Scorp’ encourages vigorous helmsmanship without getting terrifying.

After dislodging my pancreas and turning a concerning shade of mauve after just a handful of laps, I declared the 600e Scorpionissima “a proper laugh” and returned to the pits.

It didn’t take long for me to conclude that Abarth has very much succeeded in its mission. It has created something retaining all of those lairy characteristics that have endeared the brand to a niche crowd of followers across the world. Yet unlike plenty of its rivals, the 600e Scorpionissima remains very much accessible in terms of power and how it delivers it.

Back to Pietro.

“In the past, we have seen a lot of EV makers go for insane 0-62mph times and push for big horsepower figures,” he continues. “But those cars, they’re not safe in how they handle the power. If we’re going to convert the Abarth faithful, then we need to remember that driving enjoyment very much matters in the EV world. Ultimately, EVs need to be fun, not just fast.”

Given its effervescent character and starting price of just under £40,000, there’s plenty to like about the Abarth Scorpionissima 600e.

Alright, the pretend engine noises have the potential to become somewhat of a CVT-esque grating drone after a while, because they can’t be broken by simulated (see, ‘fake’) gearshifts like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. That’s okay, though, because you can turn off the Scorpionissima 600e’s four-banger pops and burbles while on the move.

As Pietro is quick to remind, “being in a relaxed driving environment, with smooth acceleration” is an integral part of an EV’s DNA. What’s more, the addition of an Ioniq 5 N-esque fake gearbox would add an undisclosed sum of money to the 600e Scorpionissima’s price tag. Reading between the lines, it would cost “a lot” to do so.

Pietro won’t be drawn into confirming whether his employer will develop an all-electric Panda Abarth or a revived Abarth 131 during the coming years. Honestly, though, both are wishful thinking on behalf of myself and other ‘People Who Like Small, Fun, Performance Cars’ at this present moment.

He is, however, confident that the Scorpionissima 600e will be the success story Abarth deserves.

“What we want to do at the moment is to get as much leverage out of our current line-up, which is the Abarth 600e Scorpionissima, the Abarth 600e, and the Abarth 500e.

“If these cars produce the great results we are expecting, though, we will potentially have more room for additional models in our line-up.”

Do it, Abarth. Please.