Advert
If you’re looking for an electric car that offers more fun than most EVs, the Abarth 600e delivers 280 hp of power and a 0-62 mph time of 5.8 seconds, and comes complete with race car styling details.
Abarth, a brand of Stellantis, offers sporty versions of Fiat models. We’ve already reviewed the Abarth 500e; now the bigger Abarth 600e – the most powerful Abarth ever – has been launched in the UK. An opportunity to spice up your driving life?
The Abarth 600e shares its Perfo e-CMP platform and powertrain with the Alfa Romeo Junior, a performance-focused version of the e-CMP platform that also underpins the Fiat 600e.
Like the 500e, the Abarth 600e has a retro-inspired design, but it gains a number of hot hatch styling details such as large 20-inch wheels and tyres, and the race car-like rear spoiler.
The Abarth 600e also shares the same 54 kWh lithium-ion battery (51 kWh usable capacity) with the Fiat 600e, but the Abarth 600e has its own electric motor, with 280 hp in the most powerful 600e SCORPIONISSIMA model, delivering front-wheel drive.
As well as the electric motor there are also a number of other sporty elements about the Abarth 600e that are unique. A Torsen mechanical limited slip differential provides additional torque on the external wheel through a locking-effect set-up, delivering better traction in turns and improving handling. The suspension is stiffer, and the chassis is reinforced with a rear anti-roll bar and is also lowered, with a wider track – an additional 30mm at the front and an additional 25mm at the back.
The 20-inch Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres have an optimised rubber compound and dedicated architecture with the aim of delivering maximum levels of grip from the 280 hp of power. The brakes have a bigger surface area, providing resistance to fading and optimising heat dissipation. The Abarth 600e’s battery has a cooling system with a high-capacity pump to ensure effective cooling. Supportive racing seats and the sports steering wheel feature Alcantara material.
Despite all of the performance tweaks, the Abarth 600e still offers the practicality of five seats, four doors and a hatchback. With a length of 4,171mm, the 600e is bigger than the 500e, but rear legroom is tight (not helped by a transmission tunnel), and the boot isn’t huge at 360-litres (or 1,231 litres with the rear seats folded). There’s a false boot floor, under which you can just about fit the charging cable, and there’s even a small additional compartment below the lower boot floor.
The dashboard shares features with the Jeep Avenger, including a folding cover over the large storage compartment in the centre console.
The Abarth 600e Scorpionissima was driven on the UK launch event, which involved a road route near Peterborough, and a race around a go-kart track. The go-kart track was – obviously – designed for go-karts, not cars, yet despite being relatively narrow and having very short straights and tight corners, the 600e coped with the track impressively well.
The 600e has three drive modes: Turismo, Scorpion Street and Scorpion Track, and the 0-62 mph acceleration time of 5.85 seconds meant that you could gain some decent speed before having to prove that the upgraded brakes were capable of slowing the EV before the next corner. Virtually all corners were very tight yet the 600e somehow managed to get round them, thanks to high levels of grip and well-sorted handling – despite the 1,640 kg kerb weight being almost one and half tonnes heavier than a typical petrol go-kart. With 280 hp of power being delivered to the road through the front wheels it’s no surprise that there’s a degree of wheelspin and torque steer, in typical hot hatch tradition.
On public roads the 600e’s performance is ideal for swifty passing slow-moving vehicles, but the large wheels and wide tyres mean that there’s typically some road noise. You also get a sound generator which aims to recreate the exhaust noise from a petrol Abarth. As well as being less intrusive, thankfully this is much easier to switch on and off in the 600e Scorpionissima compared to the 500e, where the controls are hidden in the infotainment system.
Gears are selected on the 600e by means of four buttons on the centre console, which is carried over from the Fiat 500e (and this is another feature shared with the Jeep Avenger), and this frees up space where the gear selector would normally be for a large storage compartment. However separate buttons that you have to reach for are not as user-friendly as a conveniently-located gear selector in our opinion. Pressing the D button twice gives you ‘B’-mode, which provides a greater degree of brake regeneration.
The 600e has a 10-inch touchscreen, which is ‘letterbox-shaped’, ie. quite narrow. Underneath the screen is a physical ‘home’ button, but other than that, there are no permanent shortcut buttons for items such as navigation, media/radio or phone. This makes it quite hard to easily swap between items such as Apple CarPlay and radio. To find the satnav, you have to swipe the home screen to the side. Swipe again and you’ll get a screen with a selection of car controls and apps.
Further down the dashboard is a row of buttons for the climate controls, one of which brings up a screen allowing you to select items such as the heated seats and to choose where the heating and ventilation is directed.
As with virtually all new cars, the lane departure warning system intervenes on the steering if you drive near a white line, although it doesn’t do this as violently as many other cars; to switch this off you need to select the vehicle button (next to the home button under the touchscreen) and the ADAS screen will appear, offering you options to switch off various items – including traction control.
Despite the driver’s seat having electric adjustment, it might be a challenge for some people to get their ideal driving position in the 600e, with a relatively short reach adjustment for the steering wheel, a seat base with no ability to have its angle adjusted, and the driver might find their left leg pressed up against the large storage compartment in the centre console.
The Abarth 600e SCORPIONISSIMA has an official WLTP combined electric driving range of 199 miles (although this can be increased to 207 miles on Eco tyres). It wasn’t possible to test the 600e’s real-world range on the launch event. The 600e electricity consumption is 180.3 Wh/km.
Like most of the current Stellantis EV models, the 600e can rapid charge at up to 100 kW DC, when a 20% to 80% charge should take 27 minutes.
The 600e also has an 11 kW onboard AC charger, which can benefit from a three-phase electricity supply typically found at workplaces in the UK, when a 0% to 100% charge should take 5 hours 45 minutes.
A heat pump comes as standard, which aims to minimise the loss of battery charge when heating the cabin in cold weather.
The 600e has an 8-year/100,000-mile battery warranty.
Two Abarth 600e models are available in the UK, the 240 hp standard version, from £36,975, and the 280 hp Scorpionissima, as tested, for £39,875. Both models are priced below the threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement, which is due to come into effect in the UK for EVs in April 2025, and adds £2,125 to the price of a £40,000+ EV over five years.
The Abarth 600e is available in Acid Green, Antidote White, Shock Orange, and Venom Black. The Scorpionissima is available in Acid Green and the exclusive Hypnotic Purple (both paints included in OTR price).
The Abarth 600e is visually striking and the driving experience reflects its looks: fun and slightly unhinged. So if you want something that’s more exciting than a regular EV then the Abarth 600e ticks this box. Two models are available, the 240 hp standard version or the 280 hp Scorpionissima variant. The 280 hp model as tested offers rapid performance, tight handling, and good body control (and a firm ride). The large wheels and tyres mean that there’s some road noise, and the front-wheel drive powertrain results in wheelspin and torque steer under acceleration. But you still get a (relatively) practical five-seater hatchback. The Abarth 600e is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 8 out of 10.
Drive an EV for less than you think with Select Car Leasing 
Save 20-50% on an EV through salary sacrifice with The Electric Car Scheme 
ClearWatt supports buyers, sellers and owners of EVs with app-based battery health testing and detailed EV data insights available for every used EV in the UK. Take the stress out of buying a used EV with ClearWatt and save 10% on all their products with promo code “GCG10”. 
Zapmap: UK's No.1 EV charging points app 2025. Zapmap helps EV drivers search for EV chargers, plan longer journeys and pay for charging. 
With Pod, you're in good hands. With over 15 years of EV charging experience, drivers trust Pod to keep their EVs charged and ready to go. 
Paul Clarke, GreenCarGuide Editor
