Abarth 600e long-term test: report 5

The car Abarth 600e Scorpionissima Run by Mark Pearson, used cars editor

Why it’s here To see if a small electric sports SUV can cut the mustard against combustion-engined rivals

Needs to It’ll need to be fun, but it’ll also need to dispatch commuting, work and family life without any range anxiety issues and cope with a wide variety of everyday duties

Miles covered 6155 Price £39,885 Best price £35,995 Price as tested £39,885 Official range 199 miles Test range 143 miles

10 March 2026 – Charging ahead

Some things are immutable, like the hardness of diamond or the changing of the seasons. Without fail, if I charge my Abarth 600e to 100%, the range readout suggests I could travel either 207 miles in Scorpion Road mode or 217 miles in the eco-biased Turismo mode. The reality, of course, as with nearly every electric vehicle, is somewhat different, a fact acknowledged by the car when it tells me it has 50% battery left, but the range has dropped to 80 miles. 

Even that is being quite optimistic because, as I mentioned in my previous reports, the average efficiency as displayed on the car’s digital readout suggests an overall range of nearer 143 miles, which is not good at all by moderen electric car standards. And being someone who likes to avoid public chargers as much as I can, due to previous bad experie -nces, I always like to have plenty of range in reserve, and I find myself popping this Abarth on charge at home more often than just about any car I’ve driven – even daily, if I’m racking up the miles. 

These figures have all been recorded in cooler weather, I have to point out, so there may be some improvement now that temperatures are on the rise. And with that changeable weather, I’m pleased to report the Abarth has physical controls for its climate control in the shape of some shortcut buttons, so adjusting the interior temperature setting is much easier than it would have been if this function had been relegated to the touchscreen, as it is on so many modern cars. 

In fact, the 10.3in touchscreen itself is usefully large and positioned quite high up on the dashboard. The only fly is that if you stick with the standard touchscreen setting, some of the icons are on the small side, and because the car’s ride is so lumpy, it’s incredibly difficult to hit the right icon when on the move. Many is the time I’ve gone for a different radio station and phoned Auntie Tina by mistake. And while I’m quite fond of her, she’s no Lauren Laverne or Chris Moyles.

On top of that, the touchscreen’s software isn’t always the quickest to respond. To be fair, if you use Apple CarPlay the majority of the time, as I do, the icons are larger, and the layout is clearer, which makes selection on the sat-nav or phone on the move an easier, if not immutable, affair.  

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