IV: “I think many people would be pleasantly surprised. I was. And this one costs around £37,000, which is a hell of a lot of off-road utility vehicle for the money.”
MP: “So, Victoria, why is the Abarth 500e underrated?”
VP: “Mostly because it’s fallen into the trap of being assessed within the context of other EVs, rather than just as a stand-alone fun hot hatch.
“The 500e really is one of the best warm hatches out there.
“Don’t get me wrong – it’s expensive, I wish it went further to a charge and it’s insanely annoying that you can’t turn the noise off unless you’re parked up, but it really swivels into a corner, the steering is tactile and it has lovely body control: it’s a proper driver’s car.
“It’s also powerful enough to feel naughty, but you can use 100% of the performance on a daily basis, which is quite rare.
“It’s one of the best fun cars to have been launched in the past year, but not many people have actually said that.”
RL: “You’re right, though, it’s easy to get distracted by the extrovert colour, and the noises it makes and all that, but, actually, underneath all that it is a serious driver’s car.”